Australian Open: after his positive Covid test, should Murray travel to Melbourne?

Andy Murray has tested positive for Covid-19 before his flight to Melbourne to compete at the Australian Open, putting his presence at the tournament in doubt.

The five-time Melbourne finalist was due to fly to Australia on one of the 18 charter flights arranged by tournament organisers, but he was instead forced to self-isolate at home. He is reportedly suffering mild symptoms, but is otherwise in good health.

Murray’s last appearance at the event came in 2019, when he was beaten in the first round by Roberto Bautista Agut, before undergoing a second hip operation. He later admitted that he feared that would be his final tournament as a professional, due to ongoing hip problems and an issue with tendinitis that ruled him out of the few 2020 tournaments.

He needed a wild card to enter the Australian Open draw, as his world ranking is currently 123.

Tennis Australia has enacted a major operation to keep the Open running, transporting players and their staff into Melbourne and Adelaide. All competitors must quarantine for 14 days, although they will be allowed out of their rooms after a negative Covid test into order to train under strict conditions for five hours each day.

Organisers spent several months negotiating an arrangement that was acceptable to local and national government agencies.

Reportedly, Murray and his team are working closely with tournament director Craig Tiley to come up with a solution that would enable the player to come to the Australian Open, but it is unclear whether he will be able to arrive at a later date.

Australia’s borders are currently closed to foreign nationals, and there is a weekly cap of 1,120 passengers into Victoria for residents. Travellers will not be allowed to arrive Australia after this week, and there are concerns that issuing an exemption for elite tennis players would attract major backlash from citizens who are stranded abroad.

We know how much he loves competing here in Melbourne and how hard he’d worked for this opportunity

– Australian Open

In a statement on Twitter, the Australian Open organisers said: “Andy Murray has advised that he tested positive to Covid-19 and is isolating at home in the UK.

“Unfortunately, this means he will be unable to join the official AO charter flights arriving in Australia in the coming days to go through the quarantine period with the other players. The AO fans love Andy, and we know how much he loves competing here in Melbourne and how hard he’d worked for this opportunity.”

Victorian health minister Martin Foley warned Murray that he should not expect any preferential treatment.

He said: “In regards to Mr Murray, we’ve been clear from the start that anyone who tests positive is not able to be part of the programme coming into Melbourne and Australia. Mr Murray, and the other 1240 people as part of the programme, need to demonstrate that if they’re coming to Melbourne, they have returned a negative test.

“So should Mr Murray arrive, and I have no indication that he will, he will be subject to those same rigorous arrangements as everyone else. Should he test positive prior to his attempts to come to Australia, he will be refused.”

The tournament is scheduled to begin on 8 February. American Madison Keys has also been forced to withdraw after a positive Covid test, as have Rafael Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya and Dominic Thiem’s coach Nicolas Massu.

What should have been, if not a triumphant return, then at least a return, has become another chapter in a run of bad luck for Andy Murray. His much-touted return to professional tennis has been delayed by injury, the lack of most tennis due to the pandemic and now a Covid-19 diagnosis. No matter your opinion of Andy Murray, it’s hard to deny that good fortune is not on his side.

The two questions that emerge from this announcement as fairly clear – could Murray still make it to the tournament, and should he? It looks unlikely that it’s going to happen. As I reported in November, the negotiations to put the event on at all were painstaking on all sides, and it’s hard to see Australian governments willing to bend the rules for one person. If he were allowed, he’d likely have to charter his own plane and he’d face considerable scrutiny and criticism as a result.

Todd Woodbridge says that the risk just wouldn’t be worth it

Logistically, should he push it? If Murray arrived late, his practice time would be minimal. Former doubles champion Todd Woodbridge says that the risk just wouldn’t be worth it.

“He could possibly get here in time. I think that is highly, highly unlikely because Andy has been through major rehabilitation with hip surgeries. For him to arrive late and to only get a couple of days full court practice before the Australian Open, I don’t think he’d take the risk on his body after going through what he has gone through to get to this point in his recovery.”

I know that this will be a frustrating time for Murray and his fans, but Covid has thrown too big a spanner into the works for Murray to try and force a comeback in this tournament. He’d be much better off, physically-speaking, waiting to recover and delaying his comeback just a little bit longer. I know he wants to get back on the court, but a premature comeback could put him back far more in the long run.