Murray right to skip Davis Cup tie, says captain Smith
Andy Murray is right to miss Great Britain's Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia and focus on individual goals, says captain Leon Smith.
Published : Jul 14, 2016 14:55 IST
Andy Murray is right to miss Great Britain's Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia and focus on individual goals, says captain Leon Smith.
It has been over three years since Murray last missed a tie for Britain and he accounted for 11 of the team's 12 points en route to Davis Cup glory last year.
Murray won his third career grand-slam title by beating Milos Raonic in Sunday's Wimbledon final and has the Olympic Games and US Open to focus on in the coming months.
And Smith believes the 29-year-old is making the correct call by sitting out the trip to Belgrade.
"Quite rightly he has to look after his body and his mind," he said.
"He's got his eyes set on getting some rest and really making a big push for the Olympics, US Open and beyond."
Murray may yet make the trip to support his team-mates, a move that would be welcomed by Smith.
"We would love him to come out and support. We are a really, really close unit," he added to BBC Sport.
"I fully understand if he doesn't end up coming, but if he does it just gives everyone a boost to see your number one player, role model and current Wimbledon champion sitting there.
"We've seen him before - in Glasgow last March [for the tie against the United States] - going bananas at the side of the court."
Kyle Edmund and James Ward are set to play singles for Britain after world number 73 Dan Evans was also ruled out with a shoulder injury and "issues at home".
"After five or 10 minutes of hitting it was clear that something wasn't quite right - even though he'd been checked in the morning before playing," Smith added.
"That started to create some doubt, but then also he had a couple of issues at home that led to me thinking that he was not in the right head space to travel."