Andy Murray: why British tennis ace will miss Davis Cup 2021 - and what he said after Indian Wells exit

After making it through the qualifying stages of the Indian Wells Tournament 2021 in California, Andy Murray was knocked out in the third round by the world number four, Alexander Zverev.

He has since said he will not compete in the Davis Cup, which begins next month, and doesn’t feel that he’d warrant a place in the team anyway. Here’s why and how his Indian Wells campaign unravelled.

What happened to Andy Murray at Indian Wells 2021?

Former World number one Andy Murray was defeated on Tuesday night as Zverev won 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Speaking after the match, Murray announced he was “disappointed” to have finally lost to the German but did add he would be taking certain positives away from the match.

“The positive for me to take from it is I had opportunities again.”

“I didn’t feel like I played a great match and still had chances, so that’s positive. But I’m disappointed because I want to be winning these matches. I haven’t in the past few months.”

In the first round of the Indian Wells tournament, Murray beat Adrian Mannarino in straight sets 6-3 6-2 easily swimming in the next round where he faced Carlo Alcaraz Garfia. The 34-year-old from Dunblane went on to beat Garfia 5-7 6-3 6-2 before ultimately losing to Zverev in the third stage.

After finally beating the Scotsman, Zverev spoke to the press saying “He’s the only one of the Big Four that I hadn’t beaten yet, so I’m happy I’ve done it.

“I always stayed in the match, even though I was down a break in both sets. I always knew I had a chance.”

Will Andy Murray play in the Davis Cup?

Following Murray’s exit from Indian Wells, the former 2015 star performer of the Davis Cup has announced he will not be participating in this year’s event as he says he does not deserve to be selected.

Murray has been in action on the court for two months in Europe and in the United States and has said he is not prepared to risk injury by playing in the upcoming Competition.

After bruising his pelvis in the 2019 Davis Cup, Murray had to delay his comeback following his hip replacement in the same year. The bruising severely affected his activity in 2020 and Murray is determined to be rested and well enough, while also ensuring to spend time with his family, ahead of an early departure to Australia for the Australian Grand Slam in January.

What has Andy Murray said regarding the Davis Cup?

Speaking to BBC Sport, Murray said “I’ve given a lot to the Davis Cup, and sometimes to my own detriment physically. The same thing happened last time I played Davis Cup at the end of 2019. I know there was coronavirus, but I was struggling with that really up until September time the following year.

“I also don’t feel right now I would be playing, either. Obviously that would be up to Leon (Smith, the GB Captain), but I’m not sure I deserve to play in that team.

“Cam (Norrie) and Dan (Evans) have had a great year, Liam Broady’s in and around the top 100 now and we’ve got very strong doubles as well.

“I’m not planning on playing the Davis Cup and with the late finish to it, and early departure to Australia, with my schedule between now and the end of the year, I am going to have to rest and take a break and give my body a chance to breathe.

“And I want to make sure in the off-season I get to spend as much time with my family as I can because I have been away from that recently and that will be the case when I go to Australia as well.”

When is the Davis Cup?

The Davis Cup will take place from Thursday 25 November 2021 to Sunday 5 December 2021 and will be held on indoor hard courts at three venues: Innsbruck in Austria; Madrid in Spain; and Turin in Italy.

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