Five-time runner-up Andy Murray withdraws from Australian Open

As we could expect, the five-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray will not compete in Melbourne this year. The Briton received the wild card but will not use it following his coronavirus positive test, staying in Great Britain for too long. With all those problems from the Melbourne quarantine, the organizers couldn't find a solution for Andy's case or to allow him a late arrival despite a served two-week quarantine back home. Murray withdrew from the Delray Beach Open at the beginning of the season but couldn't run away from the virus, testing positive and missing the scheduled Melbourne trip. The three-time Major champion is fine, but he still can't travel Down Under, feeling gutted and mighty disappointed. Andy is a five-time Melbourne runner-up, losing those finals between 2010-16 to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Andy made the Australian Open debut in 2006, competing down under 13 times and hoping for another good run next month, seeking the first Australian Open victory since 2017.

Andy Murray has to skip the Australian Open.

The 33-year-old Glasgow native played only seven matches in 2020, missing the opening months due to a pelvic injury and not finding his A-game after Cincinnati. Murray is currently ranked 123rd after failing to make progress through the ATP list in the previous 12 months, lifting the trophy at the ATP 250 event in Antwerp in October 2019 - his first since Dubai 2017 - to move closer to the top-100 group but experiencing another injury a few weeks later in Madrid. Missing the opening months of 2020, Andy received the Cincinnati wild card in August for a late start of the season, scoring significant wins over Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev before hitting an exit door versus Milos Raonic. At the US Open, Andy produced one of his well-known remarkable comebacks against Yoshihito Nishioka from two sets to love down, saving a match point and earning his last victory of the season.

"Gutted to share that I won't be flying out to Australia to compete at the Australian Open. We've been in constant dialogue to try and find a solution which would allow some form of workable quarantine, but we couldn't make it work," Andy Murray said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3962Yh5