Murray tells sceptics to give new Davis Cup a chance

Andy Murray believes negativity around the reformed Davis Cup has been unfair and is urging people to give the new competition a chance to succeed.

The inaugural Finals of the 119-year-old tournament started on Monday in Madrid, where 18 teams will now compete across the week at the Caja Magica for the chance to play in Sunday's final.

Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique has been at the heart of the changes after his marketing company Kosmos struck a $3billion deal over 25 years with the International Tennis Federation.

"I think generally people have been fairly negative about the new concepts," Murray said in a press conference on Monday.

"I just feel in tennis sometimes we are quite reluctant to make changes and this is a big change. I feel like we should give it an opportunity to see how it goes."
"It feels like there's a few people that want to bash the event before it's started. I think they have to let that go and wait for the event to finish before we give a fair view on what this event is now."
"And until we've competed in a few matches here and felt that atmosphere, I can't say for sure what that's going to be like."
"If I was asked to play doubles, I would do it," said Murray. "But maybe at the beginning of the event you have to think slightly differently than if you're in the final."