Schedule needs to be looked at, urges Murray

The world No 4 travelled up to Scotland one day after returning home from the US Open to join up with his team-mates for the clash against Hungary and next week he will be back on court in Asia at the Thailand Open in Bangkok.

Murray’s main gripe is with the number of mandatory tournaments the players must compete in.

As well as the four grand slams and eight Masters 1000 events (Monte Carlo is no longer mandatory), players must also enter four other tournaments, while the ranking points are made up of results from 18 tournaments, so players will lose out if they play less.

Murray said: “The mandatory events is the worst thing. All you had to do originally was play in nine Masters Series and four slams, that was 13 events.

“I’m being quite open about it, some of the smaller events, because the ATP’s messed up the smaller tournaments by giving them 250 points, it doesn’t really make much sense to play in, because 250 points isn’t going to make hardly any difference.

“But you get good guarantees for going so one or two times a year, it’s nice to do that.

“When we play the Masters Series and the slams, we’re playing against the best players in the world every time. Sometimes it’s nice to go to a tournament when you don’t have to kill yourself in every single match. You can gain some confidence from winning matches and maybe winning a tournament.

“The schedule’s messed up and we need to change it.”

Britain wrapped up victory over Hungary and promotion back to Europe/Africa Zone Group I of the Davis Cup on Saturday when doubles pair Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins established an unassailable 3-0 lead.

But, with a near full house expected at Braehead Arena and fans eager to see their hero, Murray decided to play in yesterday’s first dead rubber against unranked Gyorgy Balazs.

It looked an easy task for the British No 1 on paper but he struggled to get going while Balazs proved a useful opponent, and in the end Murray was happy to come through 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 after going a break down early in the second set.

“I think it was the right thing to do and I wanted to try and play, but when I got out there I didn’t feel great,” said Murray.

“I’m just happy I won the match.

“I’m tired and my body’s hurting.”

Scot Fleming came in for the final rubber and recorded his first singles win in Davis Cup, beating Sebo Kiss 6-4 6-3 to secure a 5-0 victory for Britain.