Henman relishes Davis Cup return

Tim Henman has vowed to ride to the rescue of Great Britain's Davis Cup squad

if Andy Murray is forced to withdraw from this week's Euro-African Zone tie

against Holland which starts on Friday in Birmingham.

The returning Henman insists he would be willing to feature in a maximum three

rubbers if required, as John Lloyd's team look to seal their place in

September's round of World Group play-offs.

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Murray is still nursing a groin injury which he sustained at Indian Wells two

weeks ago, and after two days' rest he was yet to attempt to practice at the NIA

venue as of Wednesday afternoon.

Murray said: "I want to play because I have always enjoyed playing Davis Cup.

I will see what it's like and if I feel it is getting better. But if it's not

quite there I have to speak to John and see what he thinks."

While the withdrawal of his number one player would represent a blow for

captain Lloyd, Henman's return after a three-year hiatus from the competition

means it would no longer necessarily leave the outcome of the tie in jeopardy.

Henman said: "I feel in better shape than I have for a while. I have had more

time to work on my fitness and now I feel in very good shape and if required I

am ready to play all three days.

"I'm very excited about getting back out there. At the end of 2004 I didn't

enjoy Davis Cup so that is why I felt I needed to have a break from it. I

definitely feel refreshed because of that."

Lloyd has plenty of other options at his disposal, with Andy's elder brother

Jamie primed to make his debut in Saturday's doubles having risen to a world

ranking of 43 on the back of two tournament wins already this year.

And Greg Rusedski has also made himself available despite having only played

one match on the Challenger circuit this year. Jamie Baker and Richard

Bloomfield are also in the squad which will be whittled down to five tomorrow.

Lloyd said: "The beauty of the team we've got is that we do have other

options. Once we heard Andy was struggling we started to look ahead. You're not

sure what is going to happen but you have plans B and C.

"We'll see what happens. Andy has been a pro and done extremely well so he

knows how he feels and he knows what he can do and what he can't, so we'll see

how he goes from there.

"We have got a lot of talent in all areas. It's wonderful to be a part of

that and I think all our options are pretty good. Whatever happens we'll put out

the best team that is available."