Winning the Davis Cup remains Andy Murray’s No 1 priority for the rest of this year but the Scot said yesterday that he also plans to go for glory at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Murray had suggested that he could miss the season-ending showdown because switching from hard courts in London to the clay courts of Ghent might be too much for his back.
His final decision will be reserved until after Murray has practised on clay at London’s Queen’s Club next week but all being well, he will hone his game against the world’s best before heading to Belgium.
“The plan is to play the O2 but to prepare next week on the clay,” Murray said. “I’m sort of sacrificing the preparations a little bit for the O2 to give myself a better opportunity at the Davis Cup.”
Murray has played 75 matches already this year and switching from the hard courts of Paris to clay, back to hard in London and then to clay again, will test a back that has recovered well since his surgery of September 2013.
Memories of last year’s Finals, when Roger Federer pulled out on the eve of the final because of back trouble, in order to recover for the Davis Cup final, will be somewhere in the back of Murray’s mind.
Playing flat out in London and Belgium, he said, is definitely possible but the world No 2 knows he needs to be smart about how his body responds to the changes in surface.
“Stan (Warwinka) did it last year and played extremely well in both,” he said. “But everybody is different.
“Maybe it’s harder for him to do that going from hard to a grass court. For me I don’t find hard to a grass court a problem. It’s moving on to the clay courts that has been an issue for me in the past.
“It might not be this time and I hope it isn’t, but it has been in the past so I know a lot more about my body and myself than I did a few years ago.
“I just have to be a bit cautious there and respect the uses that I’ve had in the past and not just think: not just think: ‘Oh, I’m 20 years old again and it’s fine.
“I just need to respect that and that’s why I’m making sure I get some days in now to test it out before the O2.”
Victory for Britain in Belgium would give them a first Davis Cup title since 1936 while for Murray, it would be another career goal chalked off.
“Davis Cup is the most important event for me between now and the end of the year, that’s the one I care most about,” he admitted. “That’s just how I feel, I can’t change that.”
Murray will not begin his Paris Masters bid until Wednesday but before that he will also help out another potential member of the team for the final as he partners another Scot, Colin Fleming, this week.
The pair will face either Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil, who arrive in Paris fresh from winning the title yesterday in Basel, where they beat Scotland’s Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers.
“We’ve got a tough match,” Murray admitted. “But hopefully we can do OK and get some matches in.”
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