Murray unlikely to be risked in opening singles after illness

Andy Murray was back practising with Britain's Davis Cup squad yesterday but it remains to be seen whether he will play any part in this weekend's tie against Serbia and Montenegro in Glasgow. The 18-year-old Scot, already troubled by an ankle injury, had not been able to train since last Thursday after going down with a high fever and sore throat.

Jeremy Bates, the British captain, said yesterday that blood tests had confirmed that Murray, who was confined to bed until Tuesday, had been suffering from a severe bacterial infection, which is now more of a concern than his ankle. "He's getting stronger by the day, but this is the first time he's been able to hit a few balls," Bates said.

Bates said Murray himself would make a final decision on whether he could play. However, with matches over the best of five sets it seems unlikely he will be risked in tomorrow's opening singles matches. Serbia and Montenegro's squad includes three players in the world's top 100 to Britain's two (Murray and Greg Rusedski) and Bates knows that having his leading player fit even for one of the rubbers could be critical.

"If Andy's not able to play on Friday we'll see if he can play on Saturday," Bates said. "If he can't play on Saturday we'll see if he's OK for Sunday. And if he can't play at all we'll just have to deal with that situation.

"If you push it too early you can end up with serious illnesses that last for a long time. At his age that would be a critical mistake and I'm not going to risk that."

Murray could be replaced as late as one hour before today's midday draw, but although Bates said he had checked on the availability of the player he was considering as a possible substitute, the captain is likely to keep to his original squad. Rusedski, Arvind Parmar and James Auckland are the three other members.

Parmar would almost certainly be the man to replace Murray in the singles matches alongside Rusedski. The 28-year-old, ranked No 206 in the world, has lost all five previous Davis Cup rubbers in which he has played, though he recently made a quarter-final appearance in Rotterdam which gave him his biggest pay day of £15,000.

Auckland, a doubles specialist, could partner Rusedski, though he played doubles with Murray in February at the San Jose tournament where the Scot won his first ATP singles title.