The match between Britain and Serbia is one of four Davis Cup World Group quarter-finals due to be held over the coming weekend.
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After Britain famously endured a 77-year wait between Wimbledon men’s champions, Andy Murray has given the host country a pair of titles in quick succession.
But he kept his promise to fly out and support his team-mates and arrived at the Tasmajdan Stadium for afternoon practice on Thursday.
The British challenge will be led instead by world number 67 Kyle Edmund and the 240th-ranked James Ward.
Captain Smith says he totally understands why Murray has decided not play in Serbia, calling the timing of the tie a “nightmare”, but hopes he will be on the sidelines to cheer on the rest of the team.
The Imitation Game actor said: “I’m doing Sherlock at the moment”. As a team we are all delighted for him.
Edmund’s only previous Davis Cup experience came in last year’s final when he won the first two sets against Belgian number one David Goffin before losing in five.
For now, though, let’s just enjoy what Murray accomplished. Everyone deals with situations differently, but being number one player makes no difference.
The second-seeded Murray was playing in his 11th major final, but the first against someone other than Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer.
Two potential curveballs are the weather, with rain forecast for all three days, and the temporary clay court. He is not the easiest of players to watch, in that I and many friends spend much time making unwanted cups of tea in the kitchen simply to have some respite from the stress of watching him. “He’s got a good tennis mind”.
“I’ll need to keep up my level of the last couple of months right through until the end of the year to close the gap”.
Once the Olympics start, Murray and Djokovic are going to be tough to beat but Raonic has beaten Murray three times in the past and put a scare into him on the hard courts of the Australian Open, and as was proven at Wimbledon Djokovic is far less unbeatable than most people thought.
“It’s something I spoke to my team about, something I chatted to Ivan about”.
“It’s usually just a handshake, but for Wimbledon he makes an exception – and I think he might even have got a bit emotional. I see this as another good opportunity for me”.
In Saturday’s doubles, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot will play Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic, a specialist in the discipline.
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New Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has set his sights on taking over Novak Djokovic’s No.1 spot in the world rankings.
