Andy Murray’s potential home farewell off as he is ruled out of Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie with Usbekistan

Both Murray and Kyle Edmund have been left out due to fitness concerns as Dan Evans is selected in his first tie since returning from a drugs suspension

Andy Murray in action against Fernando Verdasco (Getty)

Britain will play their last Davis Cup tie in the competition’s current format without their two best players. Leon Smith, the captain, revealed here on Monday that neither Andy Murray nor Kyle Edmund will be playing against Uzbekistan at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow next week.

Murray will instead be focusing on his continuing rehabilitation following hip surgery, while Edmund will be trying to get to the bottom of the health issues that have dogged him at different times this year.

In their absence Britain’s singles players will be Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans, who will play his first tie since returning from a drugs suspension, with Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot playing doubles. Jay Clarke, one of Britain’s most promising youngsters, is also in the squad.

Because of the Davis Cup’s change of format – from next year 18 countries will play in a week-long competition at a neutral venue – there is less at stake in next week’s tie, which under the old system would have been a play-off for a place in next year’s World Group. Instead the tie will decide which of the two countries will be seeded for next year’s qualifying round of home-and-away ties in February, which in turn will determine who plays in the year-end competition in November.

Given the change of format this might have been Andy Murray’s last chance to play competitively in Glasgow, where he has enjoyed so many memorable moments representing his country.

Smith, who spoke at length to Murray yesterday, said that the prospect of playing in Glasgow again had been “a massive pull” for the former world No 1, but added: “He has gone to do more rehab this week. He’s assessed where he’s at and the feeling is that in the short term he focuses on the rehab work, as much as there’s temptation to be involved in our tie. I would have absolutely loved him to play some part of this, but it’s been decided he needs to focus on doing his rehab.”

Murray, who has made a stop-start comeback since returning to competition in June following an 11-month break, lost here in the second round of the US Open last week. Although he came through two matches in gruelling conditions unscathed, he is still having to work hard on his fitness. Before the tournament he had been spending up to seven hours a day on rehab work, which he is now continuing in the United States.

“He’s made really good progress from where he has been, but he’s just missed so much tennis,” Smith said. “He’s finally making that progress and he’s obviously really listening to the advice he’s getting. The last thing I’d want to happen is if he feels the pull of playing [in Glasgow] and it sets him back a little bit.”

Andy Murray looked short of full sharpness in New York (AP)

Smith added: “He needs matches but the rehab is so important. There’s been that issue where he’s tried to come back and has a little bit of a setback. I think that now he’s made such good strides it’s absolutely right to keep following the path that’s been advised for him. As much as I’m disappointed and I’d love to see him in Glasgow, this is absolutely the right move.”

With next year’s concluding Davis Cup tournament taking place at the end of November, Smith said that there could be issues surrounding the involvement of many top players, including Murray. However, there is talk of the event moving in future years to September and Smith is hopeful that Murray might eventually play in the competition again, particularly as matches will be played over the best of three sets from next year.

Edmund talked last week about the health issues that have dogged him since he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January. The British No 1 has repeatedly fallen ill after periods of competition.

“I think he has to use this time now to actually get to the bottom of everything,” Smith said. “There have obviously been issues throughout the year. After such an explosive start to the year, he’s had a few setbacks. He’ll now look at everything that’s going on, have full health checks, but also do a lot of fitness work.”

Despite being unavailable to play in the Davis Cup, Edmund is scheduled to play in the second edition of the Laver Cup exhibition event in Chicago the following weekend, when he will be part of a Europe team taking on the Rest of the World.

Smith pointed out that the Laver Cup was one week later than the Davis Cup weekend, which would give Edmund more time to recover. He also suggested that it was a significantly less demanding competition than the Davis Cup.

“At least he can get a few weeks now of uninterrupted strength and conditioning work, fitness work, which obviously you can’t do if you’re trying to prepare for a Davis Cup match,” Smith said. “You’d have to taper down, especially when it’s still best-of-five-sets as it is now. I would presume that during something like Laver Cup you’re going to train through it. I don’t think it’s the same as playing Davis Cup.”

Smith said he had no reservations about selecting Evans, who has played well in the Davis Cup in the past and has climbed more than 900 places in the world rankings to his present position at No 224 following his return to competition four months ago.

Leon Smith, Britain’s Davis Cup captain (Getty)

“History is in the past,” Smith said. “He’s playing well. It’s astonishing how quickly he’s moved up the rankings. He’s already guaranteed to play in qualifying at the Australian Open and hopefully he can keep making inroads over the next few months. I think next year he’ll be looking to get back inside the top 100 and beyond again.”

Smith said that more than 3,000 children from local schools had been invited to the British team’s practice session in Glasgow next Wednesday.

“It’s a really big deal for us and something we want to do at this last home tie,” Smith said. “I think it’s amazing for the schools in and around the East End of Glasgow, to give them a spectacle, to watch the players play, but it will also be an interactive session. We're going to be miked up, doing different things, giveaways and stuff like that. It should be a great session.”