Andy Murray 'devastated' as he shelves Australian Open plans

A “devastated” Andy Murray has been forced to withdraw from the Australian Open as he is unable to travel to Melbourne with a “workable quarantine” that would allow him to be ready to compete for the tournament, which begins on 8 February.

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“Gutted to share that I won’t be flying out to Australia to compete at the Australian Open. We’ve been in constant dialogue with Tennis Australia to try and find a solution which would allow some form of workable quarantine, but we couldn’t make it work,” he said in a statement. “I want to thank everyone there for their efforts, I’m devastated not to be playing out in Australia - it’s a country and tournament that I love.”

Murray had tested positive for coronavirus shortly before he was due to fly to Melbourne on one of the charter flights transporting 1200 competitors to Australia. Players were required to provide a negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of their departure to Australia. A handful of other players and coaches, including American former US Open finalist Madison Keys and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, also tested positive.

Murray has since completed his period of isolation and he is able to resume training. While other players briskly signified their intention to withdraw from the tournament, Murray retained hope of competing and held discussions with Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley. They were unable to come to an acceptable arrangement.

A five-time finalist at the Australian Open, Murray has not competed since October after he was forced to prematurely end his 2020 season due to tendinitis in his left psoas.

He had already withdrawn from a tournament in the opening week of the year, the Delray Beach Open in Florida, due to the possibility of catching coronavirus during his journey to the United States. Instead, he caught the virus at home.