Former world No. 1 Andy Murray has been handed a wildcard into the main draw for next month’s Australian Open, the tournament organisers stated this on Thursday.
The Briton, down at 134th in the world rankings after long injury lay-offs due to hip surgery, has reached the final five times at Melbourne Park – the last of them in 2016 – though has never won the competition.
“I’m really excited to be back playing at the Australian Open,” the 34-year-old said. “I’ve had some great times in Australia playing in front of the amazing crowds and I can’t wait to step back out on court at Melbourne Park.”
Murray, a three-times Grand Slam champion, last played the hardcourt major in 2019.
He received a wildcard in 2021 too but was unable to compete at the year’s opening major after testing positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal stated on Monday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Spain after making his comeback from injury in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last week.
The Spaniard said he was having some “unpleasant moments” but hoping to feel better soon and would keep people informed about his plans over upcoming tournaments.
“I wanted to announce that on my return home after playing the Abu Dhabi tournament, I have tested positive for COVID in the PCR test that has been performed on me when I arrived in Spain,” Nadal wrote on Twitter.
The 35-year-old stated that he had tested negative at all times when he was in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, and had last tested negative on Friday.
The Spaniard’s comeback from injury at the exhibition event — his first tournament appearance since the Citi Open in Washington in August — ended in two close defeats to Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov.
“I am having some unpleasant moments but I hope that I will improve little by little. I am now homebound and have reported the result to those who have been in contact with me,” he wrote.
“As a result of the situation I have to have total flexibility with my calendar and I will analyse my options depending on my evolution. I will keep you informed of any decisions about my future tournaments.”
Nadal spent four months on the sidelines with a foot injury. He was knocked out at Roland Garros in the semifinals and was forced to pull out of Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open.
He had said he could not guarantee he would make the trip for the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 17.
Source: ESPN
