ANDY MURRAY is still struggling to shake off his Wimbledon near-miss as he prepares to lead Great Britain into Davis Cup battle this weekend.
The Scot will return to action tomorrow as the hosts take on France, attempting to reach the semi-finals of the World Group for the first time since 1981.
But the 28-year-old, who will be accompanied by James Ward, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot at Queen’s Club for the quarter-final tie, said it is taking time to get his straight-sets defeat by Roger Federer out of his mind.
“I’ve still thought about it most days,” said Murray, who took three days off and began practising on Tuesday.
“I did say at the time, the guy served at over 80 per cent in the first and third sets. That won’t happen to me the rest of the year, I know that.
“That’s not going to happen very often against someone who goes for their serve and tries to win the point there.
“It’s also frustrating, that that was the case [against Federer, in the semi-finals of Wimbledon]. It was a tough day and I’ve been thinking about it still.
“I’m also trying to learn from the match as well. You have to look at the match and analyse it a bit, look at the tournament as a whole, and Queen’s as well, and think about those things and see what I can do better in the future. It doesn’t take one day.”
If Britain are to beat a France team boasting the No.11, 12 and 13 in the world in Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet, Murray will need to be operating on full throttle.
That could mean him playing two singles and the doubles, probably with his brother, Jamie, who is high on confidence after reaching the Wimbledon final last weekend, but captain Leon Smith said the squad was strong enough to compete whatever they decide to do.
“The last couple of years, everyone has played their part in all of the matches we have played,” Smith said.
“I think over the last couple of years we have had some really good performances and this is our level now as a team.
“This week is going to be a tough ask against four top grass-court players. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us but one we have an opportunity to win if we play at our best level.”
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