Britain can win without Murray, says Hutchins (From Epsom Guardian)

Britain can win without Murray, says Hutchins

8:10am Wednesday 4th March 2009

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Wimbledon’s Ross Hutchins reckons British tennis can step out of the shadow of Andy Murray to claim a first Davis Cup victory since beating Croatia in 2007.

World number four Murray withdrew from Captain David Lloyd’s squad last week having failed to shake off a virus that saw him retire from the recent Dubai Championships, leaving Hutchins as the most senior player on international duty in Glasgow this weekend.

The 24-year-old, who has one ATP Tour title to his name, is currently ranked 44 in the world at doubles, but has yet to taste victory in the competition.

He lost alongside Jamie Murray last time out when GB were defeated 3-2 by Austria in a World Group play-off on number one court at Wimbledon last September, and was a late call-up to make his debut in a 4-1 humiliation in Argentina in February.

The absence of the Murray brothers - Jamie was not selected because of poor form - means Hutchins heads a group of debutants as they kick-off their campaign to get out of Europe/Africa zone group one.

But he reckons it would be a shot in the arm for the game in this country if they could overcome the Ukraine this weekend.

“There is no doubt Andy would have helped a phenomenal amount because he is a great player in terms of ability and in terms of inspiration to the rest of the guys,” he said.

“We have got a good group of players and we have got to learn to be able to get results without him. It would be a great boost to British tennis if we can win without him.

“There is a good atmosphere in the team. Everyone has trained well, but we all have to step up our performance levels if we are going to get the result we want.”

Hutchins is currently enjoying the form of his life with back-to-back semi-final runs helping him net nearly $20,000 in prize money since the turn of the year.

He lifted the Beijing Open title last year - his first on the ATP Tour - with regular partner Stephen Huss and is confident of putting a miserable Davis Cup record well and truly behind him.

“The last two times have been tough experiences against tough teams, but it is nice to know I am a first choice this time around,” he added.

“I’ve reached two semi-finals in my last two tour events and I’m feeling a lot more confident about my game and believe I can compete with anyone in the world at doubles.

“Winning my first title was great, but a Davis Cup win would be right up there in terms of career highlights. If I play well and we play well as a team, we have a good chance of winning.”

Former Sutton Tennis Academy student Chris Eaton - a shock first round winner at Wimbledon last summer - came through an internal play-off last week to take his place in the squad.

And Hutchins is confident the man with a singles ranking of 390 in the world, is beginning to find the form that saw him reach the second round at SW19 last year.

“Chris has changed a few things in his game and his form is coming back together having got through some tough play-off matches,” he said.

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