Murray admits being out of shape after Davis Cup scare

Britain's Andy Murray. [Courtesy]

Former world number one Andy Murray admitted he was not in the best physical shape to open Britain’s Davis Cup Finals campaign after narrowly avoiding a shock defeat to unheralded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old had not played a competitive match since winning the European Open title in Antwerp, his first since returning after having had hip surgery in January.

He has also been dealing with an elbow injury and becoming a father for the third time and it showed as the 179th-ranked Griekspoor, who played instead of Botic Van de Zandschulp, gave Murray a torrid time on Court 3.

Murray eventually scrambled to a 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(5) victory in a match he admitted he had not deserved to win.

Afterward, he said he was carrying extra weight around the court. “When I was 25, it’s quite easy, after a couple of weeks of practice, it’s quicker to get going whereas now it takes a little bit longer,” he told reporters.

“I’ve made quite big changes to the way I train off the court as well. But the weight and things like that, that’s my fault. I’ve never had that in my career before.

“If you’re weighing four or five kilos more than you’re used to, that is probably going to affect how you feel moving around. You go the gym and lift a medicine ball up that’s five kilos, it’s pretty heavy. So I need to do better with that.