Andy Murray will bid to get Great Britain’s latest Davis Cup campaign off to a winning start today when he takes on Donald Young – but the world number five admits he is unlikely to feature on Saturday.
The prospect of Murray and brother Jamie taking on the Bryan twins in the doubles was set to be the most intriguing prospect of the meeting between Great Britain and the United States in Glasgow.
But Dominic Inglot was listed as Jamie Murray’s partner in the draw and the British number one claims that will be the likely pairing for the middle day’s action at the Emirates Arena.
With Inglot having beaten Bob and Mike Bryan twice this year with Romanian partner Florin Mergea, the Glasgow crowd are set to miss out on a family affair.
Speaking of his playing relationship with his younger brother, the British number one said: “We obviously played a bunch when we were younger together.
“We haven’t played so much recently, but obviously it’s an advantage that I know his game well and he knows mine well.
“I would say it’s unlikely I would play the doubles on Saturday. If it’s required then it would be nice to play with Jamie or Dom.
“They’ve both started the year very well. Dom has had some big wins over the Bryans this year, and Jamie’s consistency over the past seven months has been very good.
“So whichever team we put out will have an opportunity of winning the match providing they play great tennis.”
Jamie Murray warned that there is no truth to suggestions that the Bryans are looking vulnerable.
“They didn’t win the Australian Open but they are still ranked number one in the world by a country mile and they are the best team out there just now,” he said.
“I am sure they know they have not started the year the way they wanted necessarily but everyone has to lose sometimes.”
The second match in the contest sees James Ward looking to repeat his heroics in San Diego last year, when he launched a stirring comeback to beat the higher-ranked Sam Querrey in his singles rubber to help set up a 3-1 win over the Americans at the same stage.
Ward, who faces world number 20 John Isner on Friday, said: “I don’t know what it is about the Davis Cup that brings out the best in me.
“It is obviously a bit different playing in a team to playing on your own. I always enjoy these weeks and some of my best results have come during these times so hopefully it happens this week.”