Murray: Davis Cup criticism 'pathetic'

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The 22-year-old answered captain John Lloyd's call to arms for the tie, with the losers facing relegation to the wilderness of Europe/Africa Zone Group II, and he did his bit with a 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over Michal Przysiezny to get Britain off to a winning start. However, Davis Cup rookie Dan Evans then lost 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to Jerzy Janowicz to leave the tie finely poised at 1-1.

Asked whether he came close to skipping the tie, he said: "I thought about it but last time something like that happened I spent the next three months answering questions like, 'Are you dedicated enough to play for your country? Does Davis Cup mean anything to you? Is it important enough? Do you feel like you let your country down?' It's pathetic."

He added: "I play hard and I've always enjoyed playing for my country. I came up here on Sunday with the rest of guys, I practised hard.

"I love being around a team atmosphere and every time I feel fit enough to play Davis Cup, I'll play. If I'm not feeling well or I'm hurt, then I can't."

Murray is due to play doubles with Ross Hutchins on Saturday afternoon and will make a final decision on his fitness on Saturday morning.

He said of his win over Przysiezny: "I found myself holding back quite a lot and I'm very conscious of it. I'm going to wait and see how it feels. If I feel fine, I'll play (doubles); if I don't, I might not.

"I can't make it worse every single day and then by Sunday be struggling. Also, I don't want to sacrifice the lot to play in the tie and end up hurting myself so badly that I can't play for a few months."