Andy Murray only played one match at the Davis Cup to allow a groin injury to heal so he can be fit for the Australian Open at the start of next year.
Murray was only called into action on the opening day of play for Great Britain, beating Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor on the Wednesday before sitting out the rest of the games.
That left Leon Smith without his number one man for two group games and two knockout rounds as they were beaten by eventual winners Spain in the last four.
And Murray admits that he was advised to sit out due to his injury.
Murray said: “I had a bit of an issue with my groin, pelvis. I wanted to play but I wasn’t allowed to risk it.
“I took the final decision but I’m obviously speaking to my physio, doctor, speaking to Leon.
“I don’t know exactly when I did it because I had a scan straight after the match with Tallon Griekspoor because my groin area was sore during the match.
“I had noticed it a little bit a couple of days in the build-up so I didn’t know because after Antwerp I took 12 days off or something and didn’t hit any balls, and then I slowly built up till I got over to Madrid and then started practising hard and I noticed it was a bit sore.
“It was more like a bony bruise. It’s mild. But that was something which if I had played on it, it could have got worse. And that’s why it was difficult for me.
“Because I wanted to try and play, because I didn’t know how many opportunities you get to play again in the quarter-finals or semi-finals of the Davis Cup. So that was quite a difficult situation.
“But then obviously the other guys were playing really well and it was like they can handle themselves. But I would have liked to have tried to play.
“It was probably the right decision not to play. I wouldn’t have influenced probably the matches differently to any of the guys that played, ultimately. But obviously competitively I still wanted to get out there, try and play and try and help.”
Murray, 32, now plans to fly out to Miami for a two-week training block on December 5 before returning to competitive action at the ATP Cup in Australia on January 3. The Australian Open, where Murray feared his career was finished this year, starts in Melbourne on January 20.
“I guess the good thing about stopping when I did was that it’s mild, so it shouldn’t be long. We got at the beginning of the issue.”
Murray was speaking in London last night before the premiere of the film Andy Murray: Resurfacing.
The feature-length documentary will launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on Friday 29 November in over 200 countries and territories worldwide