British tennis star Andy Murray’s Australian Open hopes have been thrown into doubt after he tested positive for COVID-19.
The 33-year-old, who is said to be in good health, is now isolating in London having been forced to cancel his planned flight to Melbourne.
Tennis players must return a negative test before being allowed to travel on one of fifteen chartered flights to the tournament, which begins on February 8th.
Murray must now hope he is granted permission to travel outwith the dates that were carefully designated if he is to compete. The three-time Grand Slam winner will need to self-isolate upon arrival on top of his current spell indoors, and will therefore miss all warmup events preceding the tournament.
Australian Open organisers have wished Murray a speedy recovery, but have yet to shed any light on the possibility of him competing at the event.
The former world number one only qualified for the tournament after being granted a wildcard due to his current world ranking (123rd) being too low.
He played just seven official matches in 2020 due to plaguing injuries which raised questions of retirement two years ago and the COVID-19 pandemic – which led to tour events being postponed for five months.
If Murray is allowed to travel late, he will be allowed to leave his isolation for five hours each day to practice.
Journalist for the Lynn News. Journalism graduate from Stirling University. Part-time (and overly harsh) film critic.
