Andy Murray will not play in Great Britain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Germany on Friday with captain Leon Smith opting to stick with the team who beat Kazakhstan.

Smith had previously said the decision over whether to recall Murray would be one of his “more difficult decisions”.

Murray, 32, was rested for Thursday’s Group E victory over Kazakhstan which booked their last-eight spot in Madrid.

He won his singles match in the opening group match against the Netherlands.

But former world number one Murray had looked sluggish as he laboured to a three-set win over Dutch world number 179 Tallon Griekspoor on Wednesday, admitting afterwards he was still “a couple of kilos” heavier than he would have liked after gaining weight while taking time off with his newborn son and family.

In the Scot’s absence, Kyle Edmund played one of his finest matches of the year to beat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin before Dan Evans was overpowered by Alexander Bublik in three sets.

British number one Evans, 29, is yet to win in the Madrid finals, although Smith is backing the 29-year-old to “find a way” to win.

Great Britain’s quarter-final starts at 16:30 GMT, with Edmund taking on Philipp Kohlschreiber before Evans faces Jan-Lennard Struff. If the best-of-three tie goes to a decisive doubles rubber, Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski will play Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

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One “massive” team event, featuring both men and women, is the long-term goal as the new look Davis Cup Finals conclude in Madrid this weekend.

Eighteen teams have been competing for the title over just seven days, with Wednesday’s matches not finishing until 04:04 GMT on Thursday morning.

A rival men’s team competition will be staged in just six weeks’ time, when the inaugural ATP Cup takes place in Australia.

“The calendar is probably the number one issue for everyone in tennis,” according to Kelly Fairweather of the International Tennis Federation, which has licensed the Davis Cup to Gerard Pique’s investment group Kosmos.

• Great Britain reach last eight with win over Kazakhstan
• Smith faces ‘difficult’ Murray decision
• Canada beat Australia to book semi-final spot

“It’s not getting any easier by the addition of events. A year ago at the ATP Finals we had some of these discussions, so we’re hoping to pick that up again. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for tennis to have one massive team event?

“Sport is so competitive anyway. I don’t think we should be really competing among ourselves.”

The ITF will be encouraged by the comments Novak Djokovic made earlier in the week. The 16-time Grand Slam champion, who is president of the ATP Player Council, said he did not believe the Davis Cup and the ATP Cup could “coexist six weeks apart” in the long term.

“Obviously we have to be sensitive to all different parties,” Fairweather said in an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

“But if you’ve got Novak saying that, that hopefully opens the door for a discussion with the ATP. From an ITF point of view, wouldn’t it be fantastic to also have a joint men’s and women’s World Cup together? That would be sensational. It’s an ambition.”

The immediate future of the Davis Cup Finals, however, may be Madrid. The Spanish capital is keen to extend its two years as hosts, and Fairweather says the ITF is sympathetic to the idea of staying in Madrid for an extra year.

While the event remains just one week long, doubles matches may be shortened as they are on the ATP Tour. Deciding points at deuce, and a ‘match tiebreak’ rather than a third set, should mitigate to some extent a sequence of extremely late finishes.

Fairweather also revealed they expect to lose money for the first three years.

“I think if you look at the business plan, the fourth year is really where we as partners are hoping to see this turn into a profit making venture. There are areas in particular on the media rights side that have a huge amount of room for growth.”

Kosmos is investing $80m (£63m) a year into the competition, which includes $20m in prize money and a $44m licence fee to the ITF.

An additional $45m a year has been earmarked to develop other formats, such as a mixed team competition and a winner takes all event.

“A winner takes all with a big pot of prize money [with a working title of the Majesty Cup], that’s something that’s under discussion,” Fairweather added.

“We’ve just had expressions of interest from almost 10 cities that are keen to put on the Hopman Cup [the mixed team event traditionally staged in Australia in January – before the introduction of the ATP Cup].”

“Gerard [Pique] really wants to be innovative, he wants to really provide an incentive for the players to come and do something different, which is not week in week out on tour events.

“The mixed team event has a huge amount of potential, and that’s something that we want to capitalise on.”

British captain Leon Smith says whether or not to recall Andy Murray for Friday’s quarter-final against Germany at the inaugural Davis Cup finals is one of his “more difficult decisions”.

Murray, 32, was rested for the Group E victory over Kazakhstan which booked their last-eight spot in Madrid.

With Britain facing the Germans at 16:30 GMT, Smith says he will make his decision in the morning.

“Andy is a team player and understands what is best for the team,” he said.

• Great Britain 2-1 Kazakhstan – report
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Former world number one Murray looked sluggish as he laboured to a three-set win over Dutch world number 179 Tallon Griekspoor in the opening group match on Wednesday, admitting afterwards he was still “a couple of kilos” heavier than he would have liked after gaining weight while taking time off with his new-born son and family.

In the Scot’s absence, Kyle Edmund played one of his finest matches of the year to beat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin before Dan Evans was overpowered by Alexander Bublik in three sets.

British number one Evans, 29, is yet to win in the Madrid finals, although Smith is backing the 29-year-old to “find a way” to win.

Following 24-year-old Edmund’s performance, it appears likely Evans will make way for Murray’s return – if Smith decides he is in good enough shape.

“There is no awkwardness about who is going to play, who isn’t going to play, it is a good, open and honest discussion. That’s what we will do again,” Smith said.

“It might be one of the more difficult decisions I’ve had to make, but it is also better when you have got the quality we’ve got to be able to have those discussions.

“We can look at who is in the best physical condition, and look at the match-ups again, linking those factors together to do what is best for the team.

“Because we are scheduled tomorrow evening it gives us time to see if everybody is right and how they feel.”

Germany reached the quarter-finals by topping Group C, winning five of their six rubbers against Argentina and Chile.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, their experienced second-ranked singles players, has dropped one set in his two victories, while leading player Jan-Lennard Struff is ranked higher than any of the British players at 35th in the world.

Struff dropped their only rubber in a three-set loss to Chile’s Cristian Garin on Thursday with French Open champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies showing their class by cruising through the doubles matches.

“I think it will close, a 50-50 match again, although we shouldn’t have anything to fear,” Smith added.

Who else is in the quarter-finals?

Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique has overseen the transformation of the 119-year-old competition into a season-ending ‘World Cup of Tennis’, which saw the 18 nations split into six groups of three.

The six group winners automatically qualified for the last eight with the two best-placed runners-up joining them.

The quarter-final line-up is:

• Australia v Canada
• Serbia v Russia
• Great Britain v Germany
• Argentina v Spain

Australia take on Canada later on Thursday in the first last-eight tie, with the other three matches taking place on Friday.

Serbia face Russia from 09:30 GMT while Friday’s other two ties are both due to start at 16:30.

Scheduled start times of both sessions have been moved forward 30 minutes after late finishes earlier this week, with a tie between Italy and USA concluding at 4:04am local time on Thursday. In addition, the break between the first and second singles rubbers has been cut from 20 minutes to 10.

The same start times will be in place for Saturday’s semi-finals.

Novak Djokovic ensured Serbia moved into the Davis Cup quarter-finals as Group A winners with a straight-set victory over France’s Benoit Paire.

The world number two won 6-3 6-3 after team-mate Filip Krajinovic overcame Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 7-6 (7-5) earlier.

Germany beat Chile 2-1 to win Group C and set up a last-eight tie with Great Britain on Friday.

Australia face Canada in the first of the quarter-finals from 17:00 GMT on Thursday.

The other three ties are on Friday with Serbia taking on Russia from 09:30.

Great Britain face Germany and Spain play Argentina from 16:30.

Scheduled start times of both sessions have been moved forward 30 minutes after late finishes earlier this week, with a tie between Italy and USA concluding at 4:04am local time on Thursday.

• GB beat Kazakhstan to reach Davis Cup quarter-finals

Kyle Edmund stepped up in Andy Murray’s absence to give Great Britain the perfect start against Kazakhstan in a decisive Davis Cup group tie in Madrid.

Assured of a quarter-final place with a victory, Britain lead 1-0 in the three-rubber tie after Edmund won 6-3 6-3 against Mikhail Kukushkin.

British number one Dan Evans will put his team in the last eight if he beats Alexander Bublik later on Thursday.

Murray has been rested as he continues his comeback from hip surgery.

If Evans loses, Britain will have another chance to win the tie through Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski in a deciding doubles rubber which follows the second singles match.

Kazakhstan, backed by a rowdy set of supporters, need to fight back to win or they will be eliminated from the new-look 18-team finals tournament which is being played across the week in the Spanish capital.

Britain could still reach the last eight as one of the two best runners-up even if they are beaten by the Kazakhs, although it would only be a slim chance with Group B runners-up Russia already guaranteed to qualify ahead of them.

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Edmund rediscovers form to give GB advantage

Murray’s absence was unsurprising after the Scot laboured to a three-set win over Dutch world number 179 Tallon Griekspoor on Wednesday, which left him admitting he was not as sharp as he would like to be after taking a month off competitive tennis to spend with his new-born son and family.

That placed the pressure on 24-year-old Edmund to perform, at the end of a year in which he struggled for wins and tumbled down the world rankings as a result.

But Edmund, the 2018 Australian Open semi-finalist who has dropped to 69th in the world, outplayed 67th-ranked Kukushkin in a noisy Caja Magica.

Kukushkin was backed about 100 boisterous and colourful fans, armed with drums and a trombone like they were when their women’s team played Britain in the Fed Cup earlier this year.

However, that did not put off Edmund, who himself was well supported by a noisy contingent of Union Jack-waving British supporters, who have travelled to Madrid in their droves.

Edmund showed no signs of the troubles which have plagued him on the ATP Tour this year, hitting 10 aces and 23 winners in a dominant performance.

The Yorkshireman’s explosive forehand – his key weapon – was particularly destructive, helping him take his fourth chance in the decisive break of the first set and save two break points in the following game.

After breaking again for a 4-2 lead in the second set, he took eight of the last nine points to race through the closing stages, converting his first match point when Kukushkin hit a forehand long.

That meant Edmund won in just one hour and 15 minutes, leaving the celebrating British fans dancing in the stands, while finally silencing the Kazakhs.

“The atmosphere has been amazing, I think we have got the most travelling fans so amazing to get so many people coming here from Britain,” Edmund said.

“I couldn’t wait to get out here and it was such a buzz to thrive off the crowd.”

How Britain’s qualification hopes could pan out

Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique has overseen the transformation of the 119-year-old competition into a season-ending finals, which sees the 18 nations split into six groups of three.

The six group winners automatically qualify for the quarter-finals with the two best-placed runners-up joining them.

Britain’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands in their opening group match on Wednesday means they will top Group E by beating Kazahkstan.

• If Great Britain win the tie (either 2-1 or 3-0) they qualify for the quarter-finals as group winners
• If Great Britain lose the tie 2-1, they will not qualify as one of the two best runners-up
• If Britain lose 2-1 to the Kazakhs then their hopes of progressing go down to the percentage of matches won
• Following the win over the Netherlands, Britain have 2-1 record, meaning they would finish with a 3-3 (50%) match-win percentage
• That means they can’t overtake Russia, who are currently the leading second-placed team with a 4-2 (67%) match-win percentage
• A 50% match-win percentage for Britain would place them alongside Argentina and Belgium, meaning it would go down to a set-win percentage
• Britain currently have a 7-3 (70%) set record but if, in the best-case scenario, Evans and Murray/Skupski both lost 2-1 that would give them a 9-7 (56.25%) set record
• * Argentina, who are now guaranteed to finish as Group C runners-up after Germany won their opening rubber against Chile, have a 8-6 (57%) set record

Rafael Nadal’s Spain eased into the quarter-finals at the Davis Cup finals, beating a weakened Croatia to send the defending champions out of the event.

With Croatia missing Marin Cilic and Borna Coric, doubles specialist Nikola Mektic had to play singles against Roberto Bautista Agut, losing 6-1 6-3.

Nadal then beat Borna Gojo 6-4 6-3.

Meanwhile, Serbia, who won the Davis Cup in 2010, put themselves in pole position in Group A with a 3-0 victory over Japan at the Madrid event.

Filip Krajinovic defeated Yuichi Sugita 6-2 6-4, Novak Djokovic thrashed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1 6-2, and Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki clinched a tight doubles match against Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama, winning 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).

Germany also triumphed 3-0 as they defeated Argentina. Philipp Kohlschreiber battled back from a set down to defeat Guido Pella 1-6 6-3 6-4 and Jan-Lennard Struff was too good for Diego Schwartzman with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) success.

In the doubles, the German pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies overcame Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Maye after the longest tie-break in Davis Cup history as they won 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (20-18).

Great Britain’s near nine-hour tie with the Netherlands,which ended in a 2-1 victory for GB, meant that the tie between Australia and Belgium to decide who will win Group D started two hours later than scheduled.

Spain’s victory over Russia on Tuesday had finished in the early hours of Wednesday and a similarly late finish looked on the cards for both Australia v Belgium and the Group F match between the United States and Italy as questions over scheduling arose at the re-vamped competition.

The United States were at the centre of controversy after group winners Canada conceded their doubles rubber on Tuesday when they had an unassailable 2-0 lead.

It meant the US were given a 6-0 6-0 win for the doubles, which could potentially help them qualify for the last eight as one of the two best runners-up.

Organisers the ITF said three Canadian players had been declared unfit to play, but Britain’s Andy Murray was among critics of the decision to forfeit, saying: “I don’t think that’s good.

“So where Canada may have felt that that was a dead rubber in theory for them because they were already through, that could have implications to all of the teams potentially that might finish in second place.”

• GB win thrilling Davis Cup opener
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