Murray banks on home boost in USA Davis Cup tie

Andy Murray said on Wednesday that the support of the Glasgow crowd could give Great Britain the edge in this weekend's Davis Cup World Group tie against the United States.
The world number five helped his team to a 3-1 victory over the USA at the same stage of last season's tournament and said he was confident of pulling off a repeat in the first-round tie at the Emirates Arena.
"For all of us as a team, getting to play in front of a crowd like this is a great feeling," Murray told a press conference two days before the start of the tie.
"I would say that's the nicest thing about the Davis Cup -- when you get a home tie, you get the whole crowd behind you. It's not like that at the tournaments we play throughout the rest of the year.
"To have a crowd turning up just to support you is fantastic and I'm sure the whole team will respond.
"It looks like a great arena, it's a perfect size and if it's packed I am sure they will make a lot of noise.
"It helps in all sports to play in front of a home crowd. There can sometimes be a few nerves early because of it, but once you get through that it makes a big difference and can help a lot."
Murray, a beaten finalist at this year's Australian Open, is the top-ranked player in the tie, but the USA have their leading singles player John Isner available again following an ankle problem.
Murray has suffered two quarter-finals defeats since falling to Novak Djokovic in the Melbourne final, losing to Gilles Simon in Rotterdam and Croatian teenager Borna Coric in Dubai, and he admitted he had missed the support of coach Amelie Mauresmo, who was on Fed Cup duty with France.
"After the Aussie Open, I spent the next three or four weeks with no coach and I feel that's something I obviously need to get sorted so that when I get to the clay court season, I am not in that position," he said.
"Because I feel like there are some things I need to work on all the time and when I don't have somewhere there, it's harder to do that. That's high on my list of priorities."
Murray was dismissive when asked what effect his public declaration of support for Scottish independence in last year's referendum would have on his commitment to the Great Britain team.
"Well, I guess we'll see at the weekend," said the 27-year-old Scot.
Source: AFP