Andy Murray is a doubt for Davis Cup doubles action after Great Britain and Poland split the opening two rubbers in the Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 relegation play-off in Liverpool.

More Stories

• Matchcast: Murray bt Przysiezny
• Matchcast: Janowicz bt Evans
• Spain in control against Israel
• Karlovic undone in six-hour semi marathon
• Federer doubles Swiss advantage

Murray beat Michal Przysiezny 6-4 6-2 6-4 in the opener to give Great Britain the early advantage but then Daniel Evans lost to Jerzy Janowicz 6-3 6-3 7-6 (5) in his Davis Cup debut.

The doubles rubber now looks to be critical - and if fit Murray should team up with Ross Hutchins to take on the dangerous Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski who are ranked 11th in the world and have eight doubles titles to their name.

However the world number three aggravated a sore wrist picked up at the recent US Open in his singles rubber and so he may miss out.

"I don't want to... end up hurting myself so badly I can't play for a few months," he told the BBC.

"Every time I play on it, it's making it worse."

Murray was always likely to beat a player ranked number 687 in the world but he will be glad to have polished off the match in straight sets with a busy weekend now in store.

The world number three managed to break Przysiezny in the third game of each set which proved crucial to his victory, although he did not always have it all his own way against the Pole, who while limited, certainly played better than his lowly ranking suggests.

Murray was conservative and sluggish in the opening set and needed to save three break points before finally serving out the first set.

He was much better in the second set though, as his potent backhand down the line started to find its range, and a four-game streak in the middle of the set allowed him to race to a two-set advantage.

Przysiezny made life a little more difficult in the final set and had a break point again at 4-3 down, but Murray held before winning his final service game to love.

Evans had a disappointing debut against Janowicz as he deservedly lost in straight sets.

The Birmingham teenager might only be 19 but that still made him a year older than his opponent. However it was the Pole who showed the cooler head under pressure in the big points and his icy exterior contrasted markedly to the animated Evans who went through a couple of petulant spells in the match that cost him dear.

Evans was broken three times in the first set and then paid for a poor period in the second set when he lost three games in a row without scoring a point.

The young Briton did play better in the final set, as he got a bit more tactically astute, but lost 7-5 in a tie-break, with Janowicz's big serve and forehand proving too much on the key points.

If fit Murray will be expected to beat Janowicz during Sunday's singles. British captain John Llyod will pray that the Scot can at least play in that - otherwise the unproven Evans will be required to win his reverse singles match with Przysiezny on Sunday.