Murray, “devastated”, runs out of Australian Open

A week ago, just the day that many tennis players undertook their trips to Australia, on January 14, it turned out that the Grand Slams champion and former world number one, Andy Murray, had tested positive for COVID and could not take any of the flights chartered by Tennis Australia to participate in the tour that will be held in Melbourne from December 31. Murray was going to be one of the stars of the ATP 500 tournaments leading up to the first Grand Slam of the season, but this Friday the player himself announced that it will not be possible. “Devastated to share that I will not fly to Australia to compete in the Australian Open. We have been in constant dialogue with Tennis Australia to try to find a solution that would allow for some sort of viable quarantine, but we couldn't make it work, “says Murray in a statement shared by The Times reporter Stuart Fraser.

And that Judy, the famous Scottish mother, was convinced that her son could be at least in the best aussie, which begins on February 8. “He's doing things right”the coach said in a BBC newscast. “I think he leaves today (he was referring to Wednesday) to be able to resume training a bit. And then of course it's a matter of waiting and seeing if you can fly to Australia and get involved. Nobody knows the answer yet “he added.

By dates, Murray's participation in the Australian Open would still have been possible if he credited a negative test for coronavirus and had flown to Melbourne early enough to comply with the 14 days of mandatory quarantine, but both the organization and the local authorities have not contemplated it, because they do not want to make any kind of distinction.