Murray may partner his brother in Davis Cup ties

Inglot and Jamie Murray would appear the favourites to line up opposite the best doubles team in the world representing the Stars and Stripes.

Andy Murray on way to outclass Joao Sousa in Dubai.

Dubai — Andy Murray says he prefers partnering his brother Jamie in Davis Cup ties than regular tournament matches, thereby raising the prospect of the Scottish siblings squaring off against Bob and Mike Bryan in the crunch GB vs USA doubles rubber next month.

All four of the GB squad announced on Tuesday (Dominic Inglot, Andy & Jamie Murray and James Ward) have been competing this week here in Dubai, where the Bryans made their inaugural bow yesterday (Wednesday). John Isner and Donald Young are US coach Jim Courier’s two picks for the singles.

Second-guessing the doubles combinations is all part of the fun and mystique of Davis Cup competition, especially in an evenly-matched clash like this one where it could prove pivotal to the outcome in a best-of-five encounter.

Inglot and Jamie Murray would appear the favourites to line up opposite the best doubles team in the world representing the Stars and Stripes.

Nonetheless, should Andy Murray be required to play the doubles in the event of a loss or two in the first couple of singles tussles, it’s apparent he understandably feels less pressure when there’s just patriotism at stake and not his brother’s prize money.

“There are certain things about it that are great and then some things about it that are tough,” Andy Murray replied when asked if he liked playing with his older brother Jamie.

“Davis Cup is maybe easier than playing on regular tour events for me because — in Davis Cup — we aren’t playing for ranking points and money. You’re playing to win for your country.

“It’s not like I’m playing to help my brother out. I’m playing to try to win matches for the team.

“I do feel a lot of pressure when I’m playing with my brother in tour events just because — if we lose in the first round — he doesn’t really make any money or a living that week.

“He will lose money so I get nervous in those events, whereas the Davis Cup will be much easier just to go out and play, if we play together.

“I don’t know if that will be the case or not because Dom Inglot’s played extremely well and beat the Bryans in Australia.”

After that GBR-USA Davis Cup tie, Murray will compete in the ATP 1,000 series events in Indian Wells and Miami prior to returning to Europe to prepare for Roland Garros on the red stuff.

He isn’t defending many points from that particular stretch of the season last year, so it provides the 27-year-old with ample opportunities to put more pressure on the top two in the rankings, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, with better results this time around.

“The race (to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals) is the thing that really matters during the year,” added Murray, who moved above Rafael Nadal and into third in the global standings on Monday.

“We’re only a few weeks in, but I feel like I’ve had a strong start. The end of last year was obviously good for me.

“With this period of the year, I don’t have many points to defend because I didn’t do particularly well at Indian Wells and Miami and then I didn’t win many matches during the first few weeks of the clay court season either.

“These next few months are a good chance for me to capitalise on that. If I can string some good tournaments together, hopefully I can try and move higher.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com