December 23, (THEWILL) – British tennis veteran Andy Murray has received a wildcard to the Australian Open in 2022. A five-time finalist, Murray will be competing in the Melbourne Slam for the first time since losing in the first round in five sets to Roberto Bautista Agut in 2019.
The 34-year-old had previously stated that after Wimbledon in 2019, he would retire from tennis. But, the former world number one has progressed tremendously since then and will compete in January against a tough cadre of tennis stars.
That challenge has not curbed his enthusiasm. “I’m really excited to be back playing at the Australian Open and grateful to Craig and the team for the opportunity,” Murray 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.”
Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO, said: “Andy is renowned for his fighting spirit, passion and love of the game and I’m delighted to welcome him back to Melbourne in January.”
Last week, the world No 193 competed in the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi, defeating Dan Evans and Rafael Nadal before falling in the exhibition tournament final against Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
“I have been pretty healthy over the last three months,” the three-time Grand Slam winner said afterwards.
“I just need to find a way of turning some of these matches against the top players around and hopefully I can have some big runs in the biggest tournaments again, that’s my goal. I’m trying as hard as I can to do that.”
After parting ways with Jamie Delgado, Murray is working with coach Jan de Witt on a trial basis. Delgado was Murray’s coach for five years before becoming the head coach of Canadian Denis Shapovalov’s team.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
