Thaindian News

London, Sep.21 (ANI): World Number three Andy Murray has said British tennis deserves to be relegated in the Davis Cup.

“At last we are where we deserve to be,” The Telegraph quoted Murray as saying after he and coach Paul Annacone watch the team slip out of the top group in the Europe/Africa zone.

The 3-2 defeat by Poland at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Sunday, was sealed when Dan Evans, the world No 302, got blown off court by a player ranked 376 places below him on the computer.

At the heart of it all stood Murray, a lone beacon of excellence, looking quite fed up. Despite playing for a third successive day with pain from a wrist injury which will force him to visit a specialist in London on Monday, Murray played superbly to beat talented teenager Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to level the tie 2-2 and give Britain the chance of salvaging its place in the first group of the Europe/Africa Zone.

But then he was forced to watch helplessly as the 19-year-old Evans capitulated in less than two hours, getting his serve broken seven times in a 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 defeat by Michal Przysiezny, who, on paper, he should have beaten but who, in reality, made it resemble a contest between man and boy.

He was even prepared to suggest that demotion to the third tier of the Cup for the first time in 13 years might, perversely, be the best thing to happen to the sport in Britain.

“I think now, at last, we are where we deserve to be. We clearly are not good enough to be playing against these teams. With or without me, we are struggling to win matches,” Murray said. (ANI)