91Èȱ¬

I'm almost hoping Britain lose to see how low they can be dropped. Pretty soon they'll be in the BP Gulf of Mexico division of the Davis Cup.

Ho hum - at least the football team are world beaters.

We really don't want the poor advertisement for the sport to represent us, in my opinion. That does not mean that his decision is not tremendously selfish. We should never select him again, thereby preventing him from seeking INDIVIDUAL glory at the Olympics, as that is what he would undoubtedly turn it into if he managed a medal.

I agree with Murray, it's about time some of the other British players started playing and if we don't have ones capable of doing so then just what is wrong with the LTA for not finding and developing the talent capable of doing do. Murray has a genuine if slightly outside chance of winning a slam, why should he be bothered with carrying a bunch of losers and let's be honest that's what they are. It's ALL the LTA's fault not Murrays.

I can see why Andy does not want to play in the Davis Cup ties - at the moment, he is the only British player within the top 100/maybe 150 and there seems to be no signs of improvement from these players (other than Fleming and Skupksi in the doubles). The next opposition is Turkey, which doesn't have a player in the top 100, just like us without murray. In line with Jonathan's point, if Murray played, we would win easily enough. However, it would only just cover over the cracks of the system - the LTA want success, no matter how they get them, but there isn't the system for developing top players (all top brittish players in the last 20 years have been trained outside the LTA). When Britain is becoming more successful again, then Murray should play - like Federer for Switzerland and Nadal for Spain.

Good on Murray, its about time someone took a stand and laid bare the embarrasment that is british tennis.

Why should he keep bailing us out? Better still, why should he bust a gut to win his rubber, only for the rest of the team to fall short and lose the tie overall?

Its time for the LTA to restructure tennis in this country, starting from grass roots, to club and county competition level. Only then will we see major improvements in not only the quality of players, but also their mentality. Im sick of seeing players wimp out in matches which they should be winning, just because they are a set and a break down. Where is the fighting spirit?

And a final point reserved for those that are having a go at him for playing enough matches to qualify for the Olympics. If he chooses to play the minimum matches, its not like we are being cheated or he is doing something wrong - he is more than likely going to win his rubber and do the team a favour towards winning the tie, so its a win-win situation.

People should stop moaning about him being selfish or unfair, this is what it takes to win, and we should encourage this winning attitude among our younger players. The Rafa's and Fed's arent going to do them any favours, so they had better man up and be ready for the fight.

Goodness isn't British tennis risible and embarassing. Bogdanovich embodies everything that's bad about how the game is handled in this country - all those wild cards to Wimbledon; all those first round exits. Then there's the guy who has made a career out of suing newspapers who said he wasn't that good out of a string of failures. (Is he going to sue me? I'm worried.)

Murray - if he can spare the time - should play, like George Best used to turn out for Northern Ireland, but if he can't be bothered, who can blame him? I don't think he should wrap it up as 'it's best for the nation,' but - again - it's up to him. He's our best tennis player since Fred perry (our meaning British, though I accept he's a proud Scot) and him winning a Grand Slam would mean a lot more for tennis in this country than us getting in Europe/Oceania group Z or whatever

Murray isn't playing purely out of selfish reasons. I understand that but no one can kid themselves, he want to focus only on his own career.

So he wants to the British people to back him at Wimbledon and then doesn't want to step up for his country when he is asked to.

Says all it needs to about Murray's persona.

Boggo is right not to get involved in this. The LTA treat him badly and he again has proven that he is still the 2nd best player in GB. Murray is also right. It's the week after Wimby he is expected to go deep and needs a rest

Goodness isn't British tennis risible and embarassing. Bogdanovich embodies everything that's bad about how the game is handled in this country - all those wild cards to Wimbledon; all those first round exits. Then there's the guy who has made a career out of suing newspapers who said he wasn't that good out of a string of failures. (Is he going to sue me? I'm worried.)
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That's not fair on Boggo. Blame the LTA the buck stops with them it is not Boggo's fault that he is the 2nd best player in GB

Came into the house, turned on the 91Èȱ¬ News Channel at around 9.45am for the sports news. Football, football, football and no mention of Andy Murray's decision to miss the Davis Cup tie.

An hour later, it gets an "oh, by the way" mention because the Wimbledon seedings have been revealed.

In the wake of the first editions of "World Cup Sportsday" I wonder if the 91Èȱ¬ News Channel would be that interested in the tie anyway. Seeing that the wins for Sam Querrey, Li Na and, especially, Lleyton Hewitt were disregarded on Sunday, and the matches featuring James Ward and Heather Watson were ignored in favour of various "World Cup Filling" yesterday, would Ward, Jamie Baker, Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski get any coverage?

Jordan D wrote:
So he wants to the British people to back him at Wimbledon and then doesn't want to step up for his country when he is asked to.

Says all it needs to about Murray's persona.

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I dont think he gives two hoots if the British people back him. I dont think he gives two hoots if he wins a slam in front of an empty stadium either. He is out there to win, and is doing whatever it takes to get there. GB needs more players with his attitude if they are to stop the rot.

Funnily enough a similar thing has happened with the England cricket team. As soon as they got some steel about them, they have started winning major events. Coincidental isnt it that it marries perfectly with the influx of S African born/bred players into the team? ;)

This is farcical, to suggest that murray doesn't play because he wants to "expose" the frailties of British tennis. Just lump it- he.is.being.selfish. understandable but call it waht it is. And for those of you trying to justify his descion by pointing to federer's descisons....how much did the LTA pay for murrays coach??? Seems to me he's perfectly happy taking the money and the support whilst wanting to give nothing back- i sincerly hope he doesnt play for britan in the olympics, and the place is offered to someone who has been actualy playing for their coutry trying desperatly to keep them from being relagated.what a disgrace.

I'd bet that Tim and Greg would give all of their davis cup victories and appearances for one grand slam title.
As a tennis fan, I'd much prefer our british number one to have a chance to be a grand slam champion than our davis cup team to achieve a slightly more respectable level of mediocrity.
Ok, if the team was competitive, then it might make a difference but the damming statistic is the number of victories achieved in davis cup singles apart from tim, greg and andy is one I think...
What's the point of him doing davis cup?

Anyone remember the 2009 tie against Poland in Liverpool when Murray last played, won two matches (and aggravated his left wrist), but GB lost the 3 other matches against Poland anyway? We cannot repeat this. This team has to be built from the ground up, with other players, especially younger players being able to win Davis Cup matches. There is no shame in getting relegated, with most of our singles players ranked in triple digits, we are at the division where we belong. This team has to collectively get better, not just rely on a bailout from Murray time and again.

Why is that British Football players jump at the chance of playing for their country but most Tennis players only do it when it is convenient to them?
I can't help but compare Andy Murray with Greg Rusedski who despite being looked on as second best to Tim Henman because he wasn't 'British' had a passion for Davis Cup Tennis and considered it a privilege to play for his country. He never put his own career first and never missed a match. Indeed given his form in the seniors tennis over the past two years he may still be capable of winning a rubber or two! Indeed his passion extended to coaching the Junior Davis Cup Team and wanting to coach the Senior Team. Until the current crop of players have the same passion we are not going to make any progress in Davis Cup and Andy Murray should lead by example and put his country first for a change!

We shouldn't really be bothered about the Davis Cup, the fact is we're never going to win the Davis Cup even with Andy in the team anyway so what's the point? And at the end of his career everyone will look back at his Grand Slam performances and not the amount of Davis Cup ties he won on his own.

And to all those people who think he should do it for the country, the way I see it he represents Britain anytime he steps out on court.

Congrats to James Ward on his win today.

Murray is absolutely correct in not playing the Davis Cup. IMO I think he is trying to force the LTA to develop a team that can win against the lower ranked countries rather than using, and abusing, their 'get out of jail free' card. That tie against Poland, exacerbating an injury, cost Murray dearly last year.

If the next best tennis players in the UK can't beat the likes of Lithuania or Turkey, we deserve to be in the lowest rank of countries. One man can't win a Davis cup tie, we need to develop other competent players.

At the end of his career everyone will look at Murray's grand slam record, not his davis cup record. When someone mentions Tim Henman or Greg Rusedski they talk about 4 wimbledon semi finals (Henman) and US Open finalist (Rusedski) - no one describes them as "former davis cup player" (except of when commentating on a davis cup match!)

Murray wants to win a grand slam title. When he retires it is that which we will remember him for most, even if he never plays another davis cup tie in his life.

"Why is that British Football players jump at the chance of playing for their country but most Tennis players only do it when it is convenient to them?" - you can't compare the two. Playing at the World Cup is the highest honour for a professional footballer, playing davis cup tennis is not the highest honour for a tennis player, grand slam tournaments are.

Most top players have skipped Davis Cup at one time or another. It's a yearly event, and a country can play up to four times in a year (committing one week at a time either at home or away). Given that tennis has nearly no off season, this is very tough on a player. You cannot compare it to the World Cup for a footballer (once every four years, everything happening in one country within 1 month, all the attention in the world). Though you can compare it to Olympic tennis (and even some players skip that, e.g. Andy Roddick skipped Beijing).

Federer's participation for Switzerland is also on a tie-by-tie basis. Last year, Nadal only played in the final in December, skipping the first 3 rounds in March, July and September (though of course Spain has loads of players in the top 50 so they can spread out the load. But you only get your name on the Cup if you play in the final, so was it really fair have Nadal in that final after others did the work in the first 3 rounds? Not my call).

Here's an old article on Henman, he skipped the event for three years-


That "call me old-fashioned" quote from John Lloyd is extremely misleading, he cannot expect Davis Cup participation from one player at every tie. He just needed someone else to blame after losing to Lithuania.

Murray does not have the status in the sport to be announcing what he wants to see from other players.

"Murray does not have the status in the sport to be announcing what he wants to see from other players."

As British number one by a considerable margin, he has every right to comment on other British players. He's not trying to do them down. He's right to suggest that they need to play these matches more than him.

Convenient how people seem to forget the nations darling Tim skipped Davis Cup for years in pursuit of personal glory.
The only irony for me is that now Fleming & Skupski are a realistic point hope in the doubles GB would have a realistic chance of winning a lot more matches with Murray. The lack of a half decent singles player to support Murray is disturbing and none of the 'regulars' seems capable of stepping up to a consistant support role.
Maybe this German/Jamaican is the best hope for Team GB??

Why should Murray mix with such a bunch of losers and underachievers.
Lloyd was always an also ran journeyman amounting to not very much.
Murray succeeding in top grade matches,is far more inspirational than winning a low grade Davis cup game.