Andy Murray’s Australian Open exit has raised possibility of Davis Cup absence

Andy Murray has gone, but his shocking fourth-round departure is not forgotten. While the world No 1 was on his way home today, with doubts growing over his participation in Britain’s Davis Cup tie in Canada next week, his defeat to Mischa Zverev was still the talk of the Australian Open.

Pat Cash was among those happy to witness a rare triumph for serve-and-volley tennis after Zverev’s repeated charges into the net helped the world No 50 become the lowest ranked player to beat Murray in a Grand Slam for 11 years. But the 1987 Wimbledon champion also thought the Scot contributed to his own downfall.

“Andy was a bit passive, a bit negative, but the conditions were really quick,” Cash said. “That sliced backhand that Zverev played, just pushing the ball around, was really tricky to attack. Time and time again Andy had the opportunity to come in and finish the point off [but chose instead] to see a floating forehand or backhand drop near the baseline.”

Another former Wimbledon winner saw Murray’s defeat as a “missed opportunity”. Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 All England Club champion, said: “I never thought he could lose to Zverev because his defending is the best, but Zverev came to the net and gave him no rhythm. Andy was not 100 per cent and didn’t play his best.”

The former French Open champion, Michael Chang, who coaches Kei Nishikori, described Zverev as a “unique” player. “He doesn’t give you a whole lot of rhythm,” Chang said. “It was probably one of the few times when Andy looked like he had lost his timing. Zverev was playing very craftily, picking the right times to attack and go for his shots.

“You don’t normally see Andy struggle against players who come in, because his lobs and his passes are so good. But Zverev was able to find a way to get him off his game.”

Britain’s Davis Cup World Group tie in Ottawa next week is theoretically next on Murray’s schedule, but it remains to be seen whether he will play in it. Murray said in the aftermath of defeat that he would be discussing options with his family, but the fact he chose to fly home today may mean he has decided rest is the better policy.

If he was planning to play in Canada it might have made more sense for him to fly there from Melbourne rather than go home and then take another long flight a few days later.

That, nevertheless, is the schedule Dan Evans has chosen. The world No 51, who described the likelihood of Murray playing in Ottawa as “a pretty large if”, was also flying home today, having been knocked out by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday. However, he has already committed to travelling to Ottawa next weekend. Leon Smith, Britain’s captain, is due to name his team tomorrow.

Thereafter Evans’ schedule will look pretty similar to Murray’s. The 26-year-old is projected to rise to No 45 in the world rankings next week, which will be high enough to get him into the forthcoming Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. Before that both Murray and Evans are due to play in the Dubai tournament starting at the end of February.