Hutchins up to Davis Cup challenge

9:42am Wednesday 6th February 2008

The Lawn Tennis Assocation head of men's tennis Paul Hutchins is confident his son Ross is under no added pressure after being drafted in to replace British number one Andy Murray in the Davis Cup squad.

The Wimbledon 22-year-old is part of a four-man team bound for this weekend's World Group first-round tie in Argentina - their first at that level for four years.

Murray, who slipped out of the world's top 10 after a first-round defeat at the Australian Open to eventual finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, made himself unavailable for the trip to Buenos Aires because of a recurring knee problem.

It leaves Alex Bogdanovic as the team's highest ranked singles player at 187, when they take on the south Americans led by world number 10 David Nalbandian.

But Hutchins senior, a former Davis Cup captain, reckons the daunting prospect will not affect his son's approach when it comes to game day.

"It is a difficult situation for him coming in for Andy, but it is not as if he will play the singles," he said.

"He has beaten quite a few top players in doubles recently, including Arnaud Clement and Sebastien Grosjean, so I don't think there is any extra pressure on him.

"I was the captain when we played there in 1981 and it is a difficult place to go, particularly because English players do not have a lot of experience on clay."

Murray's absence is a massive blow to Britain's hopes of making the next round but Hutchins does boast a tournament title, having won in Istanbul partnering James Auckland last August.

The pair also reached the final at Nottingham prior to Wimbledon last year, where they dispatched Clement and Grosjean in the quarter-finals.

And, after watching his son climb into the world's top 100, Hutchins is confident a good Davis Cup showing can give him the confidence to progress even further.

"It is a great honour for him to be picked, and he has been out in Chile playing a few warm-up matches to make sure he is ready," he said."I will be there supporting the British team and the fact he is there makes this occasion no different for me."He is looking to be in the top 50 in the doubles by the end of the year and this is a huge boost that he can take with him into the rest of the season."

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