Andy Murray looks set to miss this year’s World Tour Finals should Belgium decide to host the Davis Cup Final on clay.
Murray led Great Britain to a first Davis Cup Final since 1978 with victory over Australia in Glasgow over the weekend and the British No1 has admitted he is likely to miss the traditional end-of-season event at the O2 to give himself more time to prepare for the final.
The Davis Cup Final will be played over three days from November 27 and starts just five days after the World Tour Finals. A decision on the surface used will be made by the Belgians tomorrow.
“The O2 would obviously be a question mark for me if we were playing on the clay,” Murray told BBC Radio 5 live. “I would go and train and prepare on the clay to get ready for the final. For me to play at the O2 — if I was to reach the final — five [matches] in a row and then take a couple of days off, it would mean only playing for two days on the clay before the Davis Cup Final starts — and that wouldn’t be enough for me. I need more time on the clay to let my back get used to it.
“You saw last year with Roger Federer that the matches at the O2 are extremely tough and physically demanding.
“If you reach the final and play on the Sunday, you also need to take time off — you can’t just play five matches against the best players in the world and then not take any days off.”
The Belgian tennis federation are likely to choose a slow clay surface to try and neutralise Murray’s strengths, with the Flanders Expo Arena in Ghent staging the tie, subject to approval from the Davis Cup Committee.
