Andy Murray says he’s undaunted by the prospect of contesting the final in Belgium.
Advertisement
But that now seems unlikely, leaving the more than 1,000 fans set to travel from Britain to decide whether they are prepared to make the journey.
In the semifinal tussle with Australia, also held in Glasgow, Andy crushed Bernard Tomic to finalize Britain’s entry to the final round for the first time since 1978.
Murray, meanwhile, shrugged off accusations from former Davis Cup captain David Lloyd in an interview at the weekend that he does not do enough to promote tennis in Britain.
Goffin will certainly hope his last match with Murray less than a month ago is not an omen given he won only a single game at the Paris Masters.
“Hopefully this afternoon and the next couple of days we’ll get to play in more similar conditions to the matches”. As did Djokovic, Nadal and Ferrer, Nishikori and Tsonga to leave only two of the top 10 players in the world absent. Lleyton Hewitt was playing in his final Davis Cup and with Sam Groth threw everything they had at the Murray Brothers, but the Murrays came from behind to win 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-7(6) 6-4.
“Everyone, I think, is very comfortable in the team”, said Murray.
“I was always planning on coming and playing”, he said.
“I think it was evident in his performance at the O2 that he was a bit distracted, and that s perfectly acceptable when you ve got a Davis Cup final around the corner”.
Murray continued: “Yeah, it’s a bit like background music: like, you know it’s there but you’re not really listening”.
Dan Evans has joined the squad as a hitting partner, and initial reports are that the team are pleased with the quality of the indoor clay court, BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller said. Many different players, even guys that aren’t here this week, have played a big part in that.
Goffin said that Belgium acknowledged the Scotsman’s “unbelievable” clay court season this year, but believes it will still be “tough” for Britain to adapt to the surface regardless, so they went ahead with the decision to select it. “I just have to forget this match and to think about the matches of this weekend”.
A large poster hanging above one entrance shows Inglot, Ward and the Murrays – but no Edmund.
Advertisement
He will be joined by Steve Darcis, Ruben Bemelmans and Kimmer Coppejans, all of whom have played a significant role in Belgium reaching their first Davis Cup final since 1904 as they defeated last year’s champions Switzerland, Canada and Argentina. It takes a few days normally to get over the time difference, which is just three hours.
