Andy Murray of Britain has withdrawn from the Madrid Open ahead of his match against world number one Novak Djokovic citing an illness, tournament organisers said in a statement on Thursday. Murray defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the third round at the Madrid Open, an ATP 1000 tournament. This is the first time the 34-year-old Murray, the winner of three Grand Slams who has had major hip surgeries, has won consecutive matches since January in Sydney, where the 46-time tour-level titlist reached the final.
Following fine wins against two former top-10 players, Dominic Thiem of Austria in the opening round and Shapovalov in the second round, Murray was up against world No.1 Djokovic of Serbia but the organisers informed his inability to play. "Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness," tournament organisers said in a statement on social media. "Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day's play on centre court." Djokovic advances to the quarterfinals with a walkover victory where he will face the winner of Poland's Hubert Hurkacz and Dusan Lajovic.