Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

British tennis has long been renowned for its’ internal bickering and as the nation’s first Davis Cup final for 27 years gets ever closer, a new row has broken out between Andy Murray and the multi-millionaire former team captain David Lloyd who now lives in Florida.

Lloyd, who played in the last British team to reach the Davis Cup final in 1978 as a doubles player in the final against the United States, has accused Murray of not doing enough to promote the growth of tennis in the United Kingdom.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Lloyd said: “The British players in recent years who have been good – Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Andy – they don’t in my opinion put enough back. They would say “Well, we’re winning this and winning that”. But I don’t mean that. I mean putting your heart and soul into it, a passion that is bigger than the person and even bigger than the game.

“It’s about getting a kid who wants to play for Manchester United to want to play tennis instead. Andy is in such an incredible position with power to do that but he doesn’t. Tim is on the board of the LTA but he’s not out there grabbing people and that disappoints me.”

The accusation infuriated Murray, who was not in the best of mood after two disappointing loses against Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Taking to Twitter to air his grievance, the Scot posted a video of him doing a strenuous workout. He added the words: “Back to work today. . . 2 and half hours on court and a versa climber session at home. . . Thanks for all the messages of support on social media today and for seeing today’s criticism for exactly what it was #bitter #backthebrits”

Lloyd’s criticism of the Scot is nothing new. Back in 2011 Lloyd maintained Murray’s mental weakness was preventing him from winning major titles – a claim proved wrong by the US Open title win the following year and Wimbledon in 2013. Lloyd also said this year’s season ending world no.2 did not promote the sport properly, because of his unkempt appearance and a more clean-shaven look would be better.

At the time Murray responded by suggesting Lloyd was stuck in a time warp and added: “He’s entitled to whatever his opinion is, but I think he should stick to what he does best and that’s building leisure clubs.”

Former British no.1 Tim Henman, who was financially backed by Lloyd in his formative years, jumped to Murray’s defense, insisting without the second ranked Scot, the this year’s team would never have got anywhere near to reaching the final.

“I think I’d probably disagree with that, considering he’s carried the team to the Davis Cup final,” said Henman who preceded Murray as British no.1.

“He’s won Wimbledon, the US Open, Olympic gold. That’s the most important thing for him to do, to concentrate on his preparation and performance on the court.

“There are others that need to be responsible for taking advantage of the interest he creates in the game. But if you ask me, I think Andy Murray is doing all right.”

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.