Great Britain will compete at newly-formed £12.4m ATP Cup in Australia thanks to Andy Murray's protected ranking
Saturday 28 December 2019 16:36, UK
Andy Murray has used his protected ranking of world No 2 to enter Great Britain into the inaugural ATP Cup in 2020.
Murray had to use his protected ranking to get Great Britain into the team competition in Sydney in January - where each tie has two singles and a doubles rubber - as 32nd-ranked Kyle Edmund was not high enough to qualify.
Speaking on Thursday, the Scot said: "If I use my protected (ranking), I will play as the number one player. I think if you are playing in a competition like that, the best player should be picked to play.
"The Australian Open would be the priority for me. And I don't want to go there and not play any matches. So, I am finding that quite a difficult choice to make."
The Scot is only in the infancy of his comeback from the hip operation that saved his career, playing just three singles tournaments, but he will return to the ATP Tour in a fortnight, having recently dropped down to Challenger level for the first time in 14 years, when he heads to China.
He will play three tournaments in China - in Zhuhai, Beijing and Shanghai - before returning to Antwerp for the European Open.
The 32-year-old, who has dropped to 415 in the world rankings making him the British No 13, is also hopeful of being picked in Britain's Davis Cup team for the November 18-24 Finals in Madrid.
"I'm very pro team competitions in tennis, I just don't like the week that it (the ATP Cup) is in. ever have done. I don't like that there's two team competitions six weeks apart either. It just doesn't make sense," he added.
