May 05, (THEWILL) – Andy Murray has pulled out of the Madrid Open owing to sickness ahead of his last-16 match against Novak Djokovic on Thursday.
The three-time Grand Slam winner was scheduled to face the world number one for the first time since 2017, but tournament organisers have confirmed that the highly-anticipated contest will not take place.
In a Twitter post via their official account, the Madrid Open shared the brief statement that read: “Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness.
“We wish you a speedy recovery Andy Murray!
“Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day’s play on centre court.”
Murray got a wild card into the tournament after reversing his decision to forego the clay court swing due to concerns about how his body would react on the red stuff. Despite this, the former world number one had impressed in his first two appearances in Madrid.
In the first round, he defeated Grand Slam champion Dominic Thiem before defeating world No. 18 Denis Shapovalov in three sets to set up a showdown with Djokovic. Djokovic has a 25-11 head-to-head advantage and has won five of their six matches on clay.
The Serb will face either Hubert Hurkacz or Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals as a result of Murray’s illness.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
