British number one Andy Murray has said that he is not surprised by fellow Wimbledon semi-finalist Richard Gasquet being left out of France's singles for the upcoming Davis Cup quarter-final.
Gasquet, the world number 13, will only play doubles at Queen's Club, with Great Britain looking to reach the semi-finals of the team tournament for the first time in 34 years.
Murray and Jamie Ward will therefore face Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the singles matches that start on Friday.
"Players are normally quite tired at the end of Slams when they've gone deep and I would imagine if Simon was the one who made the semi-finals and Gasquet had lost in the quarters, that Gasquet would have played because he would have had a few extra days," PA quotes Murray as saying.
"But I gather he went home for a few days after Wimbledon and probably arrived here later than the others so didn't have as long to prepare.
"Simon will probably be a little fresher than him. Both of them had excellent grass-court seasons and Gilles, out of the three of them, has been the most consistent in terms of rankings and maybe performances on grass."
Gasquet was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last week.
Pascal Lemesre
