Davis Cup captain Leon Smith backed Andy Murray's decision to pull out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and expects the world number three to be firing on all cylinders in Australia next year.

Murray struggled through his first match at the season-ending O2 event against David Ferrer with a groin injury but on Tuesday decided the risk of playing his final two round-robin matches would be too great.

The Scot will now take time to rest the problem before heading out to Miami for pre-season training and then to Australia.

Murray confirmed earlier this week he will begin his season at the Brisbane International, starting on January 1, instead of the Hopman Cup, in preparation for the Australian Open.

Smith, who is also the head of men's and women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, said of Murray: ‘‘Like everyone else I listened to his comments and you could hear he was very disappointed.

"He's had an amazing year in the slams, he's in good form and that's why you work so hard to get to these big events. It's a wonderful event for him, in London with his home fans.

"But it sounds like it's the right decision because once you get a little niggle it can turn into something worse and worse by playing through.

"We think there's a long gap until the next slam but it's really not if you want to make some significant gains in your tennis or your physical side.

"He's got to look after his body. He's had a tremendous year and now it's a question of building back up for what we really hope will be a fantastic 2012 for him.

"He's got a lot to look forward to and one thing's for sure, he really wants to put a lot of work in this pre-season, which he always has done.

"He always comes out in Australia looking in great shape and once he gets over this injury, which obviously needs a bit of time to settle down, he'll be back in full swing and ready to go."

Murray said: "Because of the event that it is, you want to go out having given everything, like last year's match. Even the year before, I think it was 7-6 in the third against (Fernando) Verdasco. It was a really long match.

"It's disappointing to finish the year that way, having lost or not qualified for the semis or the final or whatever. But not being able to play is what's most frustrating. Because you work the whole year to be part of this group of players."

He said: "If you look at the other guys that played loads of matches this year, Roger (Federer) and Novak (Djokovic) both took a large break after the US Open.

‘‘Rafa (Nadal) took one after Asia. Maybe me trying to get ready for Basle was too soon. That's something I probably need to learn from because I had played a lot of matches.''

Planning next year's schedule will be a tough task for all the players, with the Olympics an extra demand, and the Davis Cup fixtures have been moved around to accommodate the Games.

Murray said following the last Davis Cup tie in September that the timing of Great Britain's next match against Slovakia in February is far from ideal, but Smith is optimistic his one world-class player will be available.

Asked if the pair had discussed the matter, Smith said: "It's not been quite the right time to do that. Once he gets out to his pre-season training and in Australia, that's when we can have those types of conversations."