Jamie Wants Murray Doubles for GB
Jamie Murray hopes a strong showing at the Australian Open will help reignite his doubles partnership with his brother at the Davis Cup.
The doubles specialist will compete in Melbourne without his younger sibling, Andy, who has now chosen to play singles only at Grand Slams.
But Jamie, who will partner German Benjamin Becker in Australia, wants to join Andy in Great Britain's team.
"I feel I deserve the chance in the (Davis Cup) team," he told BBC Sport.
"I have proved I can compete and have success on the ATP Tour by reaching two finals (California and Bangkok) and a semi-final (Doha) in my last five events.
"By the time the tie comes around in April against the Netherlands, I will hopefully have improved my game and my ranking further.
"My goal for the season is to finish in the top 30 (doubles rankings) which I think is very realistic, but to do this it is important to win some matches at the Grand Slams which is where the big points are."
The 20-year-old reached the final of the Bangkok Open and the semi-final in Doha with his younger brother and says that Andy's success has inspired him to a career-high doubles ranking of 66.
"I would of course prefer to play with Andy but I know that is not going to happen as he has to concentrate on his singles," said Murray, who hopes to team up with fellow Briton Jamie Delgado later in the year.
"Not many people have the opportunity to play with their brother at high-level sport and it's great he helps me out getting into tournaments.
"Andy's success has inspired me a lot. I wanted to get to the level he is playing at, playing the Grand Slams and the Masters Series, and I am working hard to achieve that."
The left-hander's improvement over the last six months has been down to work with doubles coach Louis Cayer and has led the Scot to accept that doubles is his best path to replicating his brother's success.
"I always wanted to compete at the highest level in tennis and just now that is in doubles," he said.
"I would much rather be playing the Australian Open than trying to grind out wins on the Futures Tour to try to pick up some singles points."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/6262575.stm