Murray says he will play for the British Davis Cup team at some point

By Kheredine Idessane

Andy Murray has again chosen not to play for Britain in the Davis Cup.

His decision deprives new captain Leon Smith, who used to coach Murray, of his best player for the tie against Turkey at Eastbourne next month.

A defeat would relegate Britain to the bottom tier of world tennis for the first time.

Murray opted out of the tie against Lithuania in March, which Britain lost, to prepare for the American hard-court swing on the main ATP tour.

Murray, 23, maintains he does intend to play in the Davis Cup at some point in the future but has decided not to play this time as he feels the match against Turkey is one the team could win without him.

He also thinks it is important for the lower-ranked British players to gain not only Davis Cup experience, but experience of winning matches at that level.

The team will now be without the top two players in Britain, as Alex Bogdanovic has also decided not to participate, having had his Lawn Tennis Association funding cut and been refused a wildcard into Wimbledon despite meeting the LTA criteria.

He had previously been given eight Wimbledon wildcards but failed to win a match.

The absence of both Murray and Bogdanovic is very likely to mean a place in the singles squad for Scotland's Jamie Baker, plus Dan Evans and James Ward.

Although they are the British numbers three, four and five respectively, they are ranked between 259 and 342 in the world.

Turkey's best player, Marcel Ilhan, is currently the world number 119 and would therefore be the favourite to win both of his singles rubbers.

However, none of his potential Turkish team-mates are inside the world top 850.

This could mean that the doubles rubber decides the tie, where Linlithgow's Colin Fleming is likely to be selected along with partner Ken Skupski, who is from Liverpool.

The tie against Turkey will take place on the grass courts at Eastbourne between 9-11 July and will be Smith's first tie as captain, following the resignation of John Lloyd after the loss to Lithuania.

As well as becoming the Davis Cup captain, Smith was also promoted to the post of head of men's tennis.

Meanwhile, Murray, who has been bothered by a knee injury, will play Lleyton Hewitt in an exhibition match this week as part of his Wimbledon preparation.

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