Andy Murray hits back at John Lloyd as Davis Cup rancour rumbles on

Andy Murray has reignited his feud with John Lloyd by blaming the former Davis Cup captain for "picking on him". The former skipper, who resigned in the wake of Britain's humiliating defeat to Lithuania, said last week that the British No1 should have played more for his country. Murray responded by insisting he deserved more respect and says he has called Lloyd to talk about it but as yet has not had a reply. "I would personally rather he told me what he felt and if he had felt that at the time I would rather he had said it two or three years ago," Murray said. "It would have been better for me, but it happens, and if that's how he felt then he's entitled to his opinion." "Everyone when they lose their job – I don't know because I've not been in that position – but I'm sure it hurts," Murray said when asked whether that might have affected Lloyd's judgement. "But as I said before, it's time for guys to start actually being positive about British tennis and what we can do to improve it, and I don't think the right person to start picking on with that is me." Murray was keener to move on to saying that he will not be using the current tournament in Miami to experiment with different tactical emphases – this got him censured in Dubai when he admitted he had been doing that – and to stress that he wants to focus hard on defending the biggest title he has won so far. That may not be easy. Murray has won only four matches in the two months since reaching the final of the Australian Open, and has endured a difficult debate as to how best to react to the loss to Roger Federer there. He begins against either Leonardo Mayer, the world No60 from Argentina, or Mardy Fish, the former top 20 American, probably on Saturday. Fish, a ballsy attacker, can be dangerous and Murray will not wish to be vulnerable as he looked both last month in Dubai and last week in Indian Wells.