Murray WITHDRAWS from match against Djokovic at the Madrid Open

Andy Murray WITHDRAWS from match against world No 1 Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open just an hour before play due to illness – in what would have been Brit’s highest-profile match in years

  • Andy Murray was set to take on Novak Djokovic for the first time in five years
  • The Brit had progressed to the last-16 of the Madrid Open on the clay this week
  • But en route to the stadium, the 34-year-old has pulled out due to illness 
  • Murray accepted a wild card having reversed his decision, made due to concerns as to how his body would react on clay, to skip the clay court swing

Andy Murray has withdrawn from this morning’s highly-anticipated match against world No 1 Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open due to illness. 

The pair were set to face off for the 37th time on tour in their first clash in over five years in the round-of-16 contest on the clay, but 34-year-old Murray has pulled out while en route to the tournament venue. 

A statement on the tournament’s twitter said: ‘Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness.

Andy Murray has withdrawn from this morning’s highly-anticipated match against world No 1 Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open due to illness

Murray’s withdrawal hands the Serb a free passage to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open

‘We wish you a speedy recovery! Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day’s play on centre court.’

British No 2 Evans will instead take to the court to take on Russian player Rublev, starting at 11am (BST).  

Murray accepted a wild card into the event having reversed his original decision – made due to concerns as to how his body would react on the red stuff – to skip the clay court swing.

Murray accepted a wild card into the event having reversed his original decision – made due to concerns as to how his body would react on the red stuff – to skip the clay court swing

Yet the former world No 1 had impressed in his first two outings in the Spanish capital. 

He beat Grand Slam winner Dominic Thiem in the first round before upsetting world No 18 Denis Shapovalov in three sets to set up a meeting with Djokovic. 

The two-time Wimbledon champion’s withdrawal hands the Serb a free passage to the quarter-finals where he will face either Hubert Hurkacz or Dusan Lajovic. 




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