Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Andy Murray has reiterated that winning the Davis Cup for Britain takes precedence over next week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and though he has finally agreed to play at the London’s 02 Arena, he has made it clear even the faintest suspicion of back trouble will cause him to be quit so as not to affect his chances in Ghent.

Yesterday and for the next three days, whilst the seven other qualifiers for the World Tour Finals, were either heading for London or getting ready to do so, Murray was practicing on clay in preparation for Britain’s first Davis Cup final since 1978.

The Scot was hitting with Aljaz Bedene on a covered court at West London’s Queen’s Club, site of the pre-Wimbledon Aegon Championships, and he does not intend to get on a hard court until Friday. “The way that I’m preparing for the O2 is not ideal,” he acknowledged.

And the perpetually self-critical Murray has vowed not to be too hard on himself should his displays at the World Tour Finals, where he will competing for the seventh time in eight years, six of them in London, are not up to his normal standard.

“It’s important that I’m realistic and not too hard on myself. I can’t just expect to play great tennis at the start of the O2 as soon as I switch back on to the hard courts,” said Murray who reached the final of last week’s BNP Paribas Masters in Paris before again losing to Novak Djokovic.

“I’ve tried to juggle the two events, so that I don’t have to miss the O2 but also give myself a good chance of playing well at the Davis Cup. “My plan is to play the O2 but if I get injured in the next three or four days then, or something happens to my back, then obviously I won’t play. It’s going to be tricky but I just need to be realistic.”

Murray has been open to the fact that switching from hard court to clay and back again takes the biggest toll on his back, which required extensive surgery a little more than two years ago.

“I’m always fairly cautious when I get on to the clay and that sort of change of surface has been tricky for me in the past,” he said. “I need to respect what the change to the clay can do to my body, and then also what it can do to your game, because it’s completely different movement.

“So I’ll be practicing one set of movements till Thursday and having to change that again and maybe play the first match on Sunday. It’s going to be difficult.”

Murray added that he has asked the ATP World Tour if his first match at the 02 Arena could be on Monday, to give him an extra 24 hours to make the transition.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.