BEVERLY HILLS, January 14, (THEWILL) – Former World no. 1 and British tennis player, Andy Murray, has tested positive for Coronavirus. Australia’s strict COVID-19 regulations mean this news jeopardises Murray’s plans to travel Down Under for next month’s Australian Open.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, who was due to leave this week for Melbourne, is only experiencing mild symptoms after returning a positive test several days ago.
The 33-year-old possibly contracted it from the Roehampton’s National Tennis Centre where there was a minor outbreak the past week and where the bulk of his recent training has been done, with fellow British player, Paul Jubb, known to have also returned a positive result.
Murray is still holding out hope that he may yet be allowed to travel to the Open, which is due to begin on February 8 as he self-isolates. Australian Tennis, on its own part, is trying to provide some leeway within very strict quarantine regime to get players and staff there without endangering their own people.
The crux of his problems might be that there seems no way that he will be able to join the current raft of charter flights that are in the process of leaving from the Middle East and Los Angeles this week, especially while still positive.
The Brit, who is desperate to return to the tournament where he has been a finalist on five occasions, desires to return to the event where it seemed his career was over due to hip problems in 2019.
His decision to return to Melbourne was largely responsible for him withdrawing from the first ATP event of the season at Delray Beach in Florida where he had been handed a wild card entry. He feared that playing would increase his chances of getting infected with COVID-19 which could imperil his prospects at the first Open of the season.
Now, chances of Murray making the trip appear implausible. However, there might still be a slim opening based on the fact that former quarter finalist the American Tennys Sandgren was granted dispensation to travel on Wednesday from Los Angeles, despite also having tested positive on Monday.
Murray could still make it to Melbourne to give his attempt at the Open trophy another shot to justify all the effort he has put into preparing for the Grand Slam and prove it was worth it to have declined the entry to play at the Delray Beach event
About the Author
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.
