The Brits’ title defence came to an end in Glasgow on Sunday as Leonardo Mayer beat Dan Evans in four sets to give Argentina a 3-2 semi-final victory.
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Murray was involved in both the singles and doubles matches in the Davis Cup semi-finals defeat against Argentina, including a five-hour marathon against Juan Martin del Potro.
While Del Potro’s absence startled the crowd at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena, Orsanic said he knew Mayer would play the final match after 2009 US Open champion Del Potro was a surprise inclusion in Saturday’s doubles encounter, which Argentina lost.
While eyebrows that were raised when Juan Martin del Potro’s name wasn’t called by Argentina captain Daniel Orsanic, it was worth noting that Mayer too was a man of substance and those crafty Argentines had been plotting to play him from pretty much the moment Del Potro dragged his tired frame off court against Andy Murray on Friday night.
Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith wants Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund to produce consistent results on tour, saying the team event is “a bonus”.
But in the second set, the Mayer serving came alive-he won 20-24 first serves-and he cut out most of his errors.
Evans had been expected to face former US Open champions Juan Martin del Potro but the man who defeated Murray on Friday decided against another match as he continues to manage his fitness following serious injury. But back then, Murray won all three rubbers he played: This time, despite three truly gritty performances, he could gain only two points.
It gave Britain hope of pulling off a repeat of their win over Russian Federation in Coventry in April 2013 when they came back from 2-0 down to win the tie 3-2.
The 53rd-ranked Evans still went down 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to Mayer, who is ranked 114th.
World number two Andy was back in action first Sunday in the reverse singles against Guido Pella, ranked 49 in the world.
He said: “Whether he’ll play next year is something I have thought about”.
He appeared to pull up with a thigh injury at 1-1 in the third set, and spent 5 minutes off court receiving treatment before returning.
The Argentines will travel to Croatia for the November 25-27 final after Marin Cilic assured his side of only its second final appearance.
“This weekend I kind of just accepted it better than in the past”, said the 29-year-old. “When it did, he actually played pretty well from the back, I thought he was aggressive – took a lot of time away from me”. I’ve got to take a few days to think through what happened.
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Unfortunately though for Great Britain, the doubles victory would not be enough to set them on a course that would lead to the final stage of the competition.
