Andy Murray out of Rotterdam Open following gruelling Australian Open matches, set to return in Dubai

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Published 30/01/2023 at 17:37 GMT

Andy Murray has made a change to his post-Australian Open schedule. The 35-year-old spent more than 14 hours on court across three matches in Melbourne, finishing his second-round contest against Thanasi Kokkinakis at 4am in the morning. He will not play the Rotterdam Open, where he had a wild card, and looks like he will instead return to the tour in Dubai.

Andy Murray has pulled out of the Rotterdam Open following his exertions at the Australian Open.

The former world No. 1 spent over 14 hours on court during three lengthy matches in Melbourne.

He was scheduled to take a short break before returning to action at the indoor hard-court Rotterdam Open, which starts on February 13.

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However, Murray has opted to take some extra time off to recover and will be replaced in the draw by Dutch world No. 59 Tallon Griekspoor.

Tournament director Richard Krajicek said: "We consider it a blessing in disguise.

“On the one hand, it is a pity that Andy Murray will not be present. On the other hand, I am glad that we can admit Tallon to the main draw. He is the man in form and I think he can show great things in the ABN AMRO Open.”

The Rottedam Open field is set to be led by Australian Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, with top-10 players Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev also on the entry list.

Murray now looks likely to return at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, which start on February 27.

He will then play Indian Wells and the Miami Open, which are the first two ATP 1000 events of the season and are held in March.

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Murray left the Australian Open with a positive outlook for the rest of his season after looking physically strong and going the distance with 13th seed Matteo Berrettini and then Thanasi Kokkinakis in a match that finished at 4am.

His efforts took their toll in the third round but he still managed to take a set from 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

“I felt good about the way that I was playing,” he said after his exit.

“It’s more enjoyable for me when I’m playing like that, when I’m coming into a major event and really believing that I can do some damage.

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“But, yeah, I can have a deeper run than the third round of a Slam, there’s no question about that. Obviously draws can open up for you. I need to also help myself with that. If I was playing at this level last year, I probably wouldn’t be ranked 50, 60 in the world. It’s up to me to try and change that.”

Murray is currently ranked at No. 61 in the world, with the top 32 players getting seeded spots for Grand Slam tournaments.

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