“Obviously I wasn’t so emotionally exhausted after that match but I had just become a father for the first time so that was a challenging period for me”. This ultimately proved crucial as Murray had been expected to win all his three matches.
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In the end not even the patriotic Glasgow crowd and endless chants could inspire a British comeback, as the Argentine, who was selected ahead of Friday’s hero Juan Martin Del Potro, recorded a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory.
The former US Open champion had hinted after partnering Mayer in doubles that he would not be playing on Sunday.
JUAN Martin who? The Murray brothers are busy re-writing the Scottish sporting stereotype but for Birmingham’s finest, Dan Evans, there was a taste yesterday of what is known in these parts as glorious failure.
“And we’ll continue to enjoy the weekends. The draw is on Thursday and we will find out where we are playing and figure it out”.
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. “That is why we asked him to play the doubles to see if his quality could help Argentina claim an early victory but that didn’t happen”.
Chances are Britain will need Murray if they are to stay in the World Group in 2017, let alone make another push for the title.
Great Britain’s Davis Cup team may still be getting over its exit from this year’s competition, but it will discover as early as Thursday who it will play in the first round next time around. We worked really hard to get to this point again, but we’ve had great times in Davis Cup. When you reflect back on it we’ve had a hell of a run. “It gives players opportunities to play in what is an awesome event”.
He said of the Murray brothers having to cope with the death of their grandfather: “It would for sure have been very hard, no doubt about it”.
Murray, who appeared to strain a muscle in the third set, breezed past Argentina’s Guido Pella in straight sets in front of a partisan crowd, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Juan Martin del Potro was due to play Argentina’s final match, but in a surprise move from captain Daniel Orsanic, it was Mayer who was designated to play the decider against Evans.
The South Americans will now face Croatia, which beat France in the other semifinal, in the final from November 25-27.
Despite the improved strength in depth, Britain are still very dependent on their star player and there must be question marks over how much longer he is prepared to put his body through such gruelling weekends.
“I have a lot of sharp pain in my right quad”, he said. But my expectations were less than what I’m feeling now.
Murray will now head to China Open, starting from October 3 in Beijing.
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Only adding to the din was Murray, who after going through his warm-down routine, and fulfilling his post-match media commitments, joined this late in the opening set.
