Davis Cup 2016: Speculation mounts that Novak Djokovic will skip Andy Murray tie when GB play Serbia

It has been announced that the quarter-final meeting in July will be on clay, a surface unideal for the world No 1

Novak Djokovic (Getty)

Britain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia will be played on outdoor clay at the 6,100-seat Tasmajdan Stadium in Belgrade from July 15-17.

The tie could see the teams led by the top two players in the world rankings, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but Serbia’s choice of the surface and venue could be an indication that the home team’s key player will not appear in the tie.

While Murray has committed to playing in all of Britain’s Davis Cup ties in defence of their title this year, provided he is fit, Djokovic has been more circumspect when discussing his schedule, pointing out that there is a busy summer ahead.

Once the grass-court season ends at Wimbledon on the weekend before the Davis Cup quarter-finals, a hectic two-month period will follow in which the top players will face two Masters Series tournaments, the Olympic Games and the US Open. All of those tournaments are played on hard courts, which is Djokovic’s favourite surface.

It is hard to imagine that the world No 1 would have approved of a schedule which would see him have to switch from grass at Wimbledon to clay in Belgrade and then to hard courts in north America in such a short space of time. The quarter-final starts just five days after the men’s singles final at Wimbledon, where Djokovic is the defending champion.

Whoever plays in Belgrade will have very little time to prepare on the surface, especially if they are involved in the latter stages of Wimbledon. Jamie Murray reached last year’s Wimbledon doubles final, while his brother Andy regularly goes deep into the tournament. At the same stage of last year’s Davis Cup Britain chose to play France on grass at Queen’s Club, which meant that the players did not have to adapt to a different surface.

Andy Murray reacts to his defeat by Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters (Getty)

Murray has played much better on clay in the last two years, but he has often taken time to find his feet on the surface, as he did at last week’s Monte Carlo Masters in his first clay-court appearance of the year. Although the world No 2 eventually made it to the semi-finals, where he pushed Rafael Nadal hard, he struggled in his opening two matches and was taken to three sets by both Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Benoit Paire.

Britain won the Davis Cup last year on an indoor clay court, but even though that contest followed hot on the heels of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Murray was able to get in some practice on clay before the final against Belgium. It was Britain’s first victory in the competition for 79 years.

Serbia, with Djokovic in the team, played their first-round match last month on a hard court at the Aleksandar Nicolic Arena in Belgrade. They have staged some recent ties away from the capital, while their biggest matches have usually been played on a hard court at the Belgrade Arena, which can accommodate more than 15,000 spectators. The Tasmajdan Arena is much smaller, which is another possible indication that Djokovic will not play.

The Great Britain team celebrate their 2015 triumph (Getty Images)

Leon Smith, Britain’s captain, said: “Now we know the surface and venue our preparations for the Serbia tie can go to the next level. It is going to be an exciting contest in Belgrade and we can’t wait to get back together as a team and continue our defence of the title.”

Britain and Serbia have met once before in the Davis Cup. Andy Murray and Djokovic, who were teenagers at the time, both played at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow in 2006. Djokovic won both his singles rubbers as Serbia won the tie 3-2.