Andy Murray has seen the Australian Open at the moment his big comeback, but surprisingly found positive for the virus - and stayed home • "I'm crushed", the Scottish message, forced to postpone his return to the pitches
Andy Murray.
The isolation laws left him no chance
Photography:
AFP
With no medical issues, injuries or pain, the 2021 Australian Championship was supposed to provide Andy Marie with an option to close the circle.
In 2019 he was eliminated in the first round in Melbourne by Roberto Bautista Agot, and at the end of that game the organizers arranged for him a kind of very bizarre retirement ceremony that caught the Scot unprepared.
Not only did Marie not retire, he played last year at Roland Garros and the U.S. Championship, won several small tournaments and was ready to return to Australia two years after the tournament organizers retired him.
The suitcases were already packed, but just then the corona came in and disrupted everything.
"I'm broken by not being able to get to Australia," Marie wrote over the weekend, "I want to thank everyone for their efforts. This is a tournament and a country I really like."
Love is mutual.
Although he is ranked 123 in the world - too low a rating for the main draw - Marie received a free ticket.
As part of the new laws spawned by the Corona virus, the British had to present a negative test before boarding a flight to Melbourne, but even though he did not experience any symptoms, the test he performed last week came back positive.
"Unfortunately, Andy will not be able to board the plane to Australia," the official statement said, and the race against time began.
As is well known, in recent days, 15 charter flights have landed in Australia with about 1,200 tennis players and crew members who were required for 14 days of isolation and received only five hours of training.
72 players who were near verified patients required 14 days of much stricter isolation, and into this chaos Marie thought it would be possible to sneak in even though he missed the flight.
He was in constant contact with the organizers, trying to find a solution, but as the days passed it became clear to him that he would not be able to hold the 14 days of isolation before the start of the tournament.
"I was crushed," he said, "we were in continuous contact hoping to find suitable isolation conditions, but that did not happen."
close to home
Marie's disappointment is clear.
After two difficult and injury-ridden years, the 33-year-old Scot worked hard during the winter with the idea of starting 2021 on the right foot.
He reduced risks, gave up the Darley Beach tournament, and marked Australia as the main target.
In recent months he has been proud of the trend of improvement and said he is full of motivation for the Olympic year, but now the motivation has been replaced by frustration and more waiting time.
It was only in December that his new coach Danny Valverdo announced that Marie was going to deliver a big year, and now the question is asked where this year continues from here.
Marie is likely to aim for Montpellier and Rotterdam, two close-to-home tournaments to be held in February and March, and from there he will continue wherever possible.