{"id":295047,"date":"2023-10-31T23:27:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T23:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=295047"},"modified":"2023-10-31T23:27:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T23:27:42","slug":"great-britains-davis-cup-captain-leon-smith-stands-by-andy-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/tennis\/great-britains-davis-cup-captain-leon-smith-stands-by-andy-murray\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Britain's Davis Cup captain Leon Smith stands by Andy Murray"},"content":{"rendered":"
At least Andy Murray was not alone in blowing a winning lead in the opening round of the Paris Masters, which saw a trio of results with remarkable parallels.<\/p>\n
After the 36-year-old Scot lost to Alex de Minaur having spurned a match point, Richard Gasquet, 37, went out having missed three of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, at the ludicrous hour of 2.15am, Stan Wawrinka, 38, also had match point before going down to Dominic Thiem.<\/p>\n
Often it is not just the legs that start going with age, it can be the sense of fearlessness which is more the preserve of youth.<\/p>\n
Looking on at Murray\u2019s painful exit on Monday was Davis Cup captain Leon Smith, who coached him as a teenager and has been courtside for many wins that were triumphs of nerve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Andy Murray smashed his racket in frustration after losing to Alex de Minaur at Paris Masters<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has backed Murray to bounce back from defeat<\/p>\n
With the Davis Cup finals week looming, and GB in a quarter-final against Serbia, Smith was well aware what a morale-booster it would have been for Murray to beat the player with a unique 6-0 career record over him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Andy\u2019s a bloody good tennis player and he\u2019s not been far away in some matches,\u2019 said Smith.<\/p>\n
\u2018This would\u2019ve been a good win against the No 13 player in the world, he\u2019s so close to it.<\/p>\n
\u2018There have been moments this year where he could\u2019ve changed things by getting over the line, that will frustrate him. Where do you get confidence from? By winning. There\u2019s a reason to keep pushing, it\u2019s Davis Cup.\u2019<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz was dealt a blow in his bid to finish the year as world No 1 as he was upset 6-3, 6-4 by Roman Safiullin in the first round in Paris.<\/p>\n