Murray a doubt for Davis Cup

ANDY Murray's participation in Great Britain's vital Davis Cup tie against Ukraine in Glasgow next week is in jeopardy after the world No4 withdrew from the Dubai Open with a virus.

A stone-faced Murray faced the media minutes after formally pulling out of his scheduled quarter-final match with Richard Gasquet yesterday and admitted that he would need to assess his health next week before committing to the Davis Cup clash at Braehead Arena.

Britain's Europe/Africa zone group one tie is expected to attract a sell-out crowd of 4,000, and the chances of success for John Lloyd's team understandably rest squarely on the shoulders of the British No1.

The Scot, who will undergo a course of antibiotics, vowed to do everything he could to get himself fit for the three-day match, which begins on Friday, but stressed that he will only be able to accurately gauge his fitness next week after he has rested for a few days.

"I obviously want to try and play it," said Murray, who has also been troubled by an ankle problem this week. "I'll see how I react to the antibiotics and give it my best shot to get ready.

"Doctor says I need a week, ten days to start feeling better again, and you know, I'll just see. You never know with these things. Sometimes you can recover more quickly than other times."

Spectators in Dubai had been eagerly looking forward to Murray's duel with Gasquet after the pair shared a memorable five-set thriller at Wimbledon last year, which the Scot won on his way to a quarter-final defeat against Rafael Nadal.

Gasquet received a walkover on this occasion, leaving Murray to explain that there had been no way he could have risked playing. "I got it the first time in Australia," Murray said of the illness. "I woke up in the middle of the night sweating. I got antibiotics from the doctor yesterday evening after the match and they obviously didn't help that much.

"I got up, had some breakfast and then slept again for three hours and then the guys woke me up and I wasn't feeling good."

Murray revealed that he had felt unwell between the sets of his second-round win over Arnaud Clement on Wednesday.

"I felt really weak, and when the adrenalin wore off I felt very cold, sort of shivery," he added. "Obviously I've caught something, my temperature's up, sore throat, sore head, my body's aching a little bit, so I need to take some time off."

Murray also had to delay his return to Britain after becoming ill during the Australian Open last month, but a medical check-up produced nothing significant.

"I had blood tests and stuff and none of them came back too bad but I was still on antibiotics for five or six days," said Murray, who later won his second title of the year in Rotterdam. "I guess I started to feel a bit better towards the end of the week in Rotterdam. (But] it was really tough when you have a virus or whatever, you want to just spend time in bed, you're not feeling great."

Gasquet goes on to face fourth seed David Ferrer in the semi-finals in Dubai after the Spaniard beat Russian Igor Andreev, while Murray now plans to return to his base in London to rest and recuperate. Lloyd will be monitoring his progress anxiously.

The Davis Cup team he named to play Ukraine comprised only Murray and doubles specialist Ross Hutchins, who was selected in preference to Jamie Murray. The remaining two places are being decided this week, with six players competing at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton for the vacancies.

The final play-offs for the Braehead team are due to take place today, with Chris Eaton and Josh Goodall unbeaten so far, and in pole position, although Scotland's Colin Fleming, who lost to Goodall in his opening match, remains in with a chance of earning a call-up after defeating Dan Evans.

If Murray does pull out next week, it is likely a third player will step up from the play-offs.