Tuesday 19 November 2019 09:55, UK
Jamie Murray believes brother Andy's lowly ranking can be an advantage for Great Britain during their Davis Cup campaign in Madrid.
Britain will face the Netherlands on Wednesday morning and then Kazakhstan on Thursday, with the winner of the group progressing to the quarter-finals of the new-look event.
Andy is set to play in the Davis Cup for the first time since the 2016 semi-finals but is in the unusual position of being the singles number two, with Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund vying for the number one spot owing to their higher rankings.
That will mean the three-time Grand Slam champion will face the weaker singles player from each nation, for which he would be a strong favourite against most teams.
"Obviously it's great for us to have Andy playing, that's always going to increase our chances of doing well against whoever we play," said Jamie Murray.
"It's obviously a big advantage for us that he's playing at number two in this competition so hopefully we can use that to our advantage."
The change of format has reduced the number of rubbers in each tie from five to three, with the doubles now played at the end instead of in the middle and Jamie admits he has mixed feelings of the move.
"It [doubles] is potentially more important because obviously it's two rubbers to win the tie but, equally, especially in the latter stages, it might not get played if the singles is 2-0.
"But all deciding rubbers will be doubles rubbers so, if you're playing, you're playing because it means something."
Jamie is keen to give the controversial new format at the week-long finals a chance to succeed, after Andy earlier urged everyone in tennis to get behind the revamped event.
"Just wait and see what happens," he said. "There's a lot of great players here, there's a lot of exciting groups.
"I think it's been cool for us to be a part of something different, it's been cool to see all the guys here as countries and play with the country's shirt, the colours and all that stuff.
"It's exciting, I just obviously hope each individual country gets the support that helps create the atmospheres that people expect when they turn up to Davis Cup matches."
Should Britain face a deciding doubles rubber, captain Leon Smith will have to decide whether to reunite the Murray brothers or keep Jamie with his regular partner, Neal Skupski, who has been named in the side for the first time.
"It's been an unreal week so far. The atmosphere in the camp is really good," Skupski said.
"Obviously I've been the rookie of the week, giving speeches and stuff, but I've really enjoyed it.
"Practice has been going well. I'm not sure I'll get the call up on Wednesday but I'll be ready to play and see how it goes."
