Andy Murray fails to qualify for Australian Open 2021, could receive wildcard

It has been a difficult journey for Andy Murray since he had his hip surgery back in 2018. Murray hasn’t been at his best in the recent past and his game has gone downhill since he has gone under the knife. It hasn’t been easy for Murray to participate in the major tournaments as his rankings have taken a hit after his poor run of form.

Murray is currently placed at the 122nd place in the ATP rankings, which means he can not earn a direct entry into the upcoming Australian Open 2021. Furthermore, surprisingly Murray hasn’t registered himself for the Australian Open qualifiers, which will take place in Doha, Qatar. The qualifier players’ list was recently revealed and Murray’s name was not on the list.

Thus, it leaves Murray an option of playing with a wildcard. There are three ways to qualify for the Australian Open. The top 104 ranked players automatically qualify for the main draw. Subsequently, 16 players are selected from qualifiers round whereas eight players are given wildcard entries by the organisers.

In fact, Murray had received a wildcard entry to the French Open 2020 but he was thrashed by Stan Wawrinka in the first round. Former seven-time Grand slam champion Mats Wilander had slammed Murray for taking the wildcard option.

Wilander had said earlier, “I worry about Andy Murray. I would love to hear him say why he is out there, giving us a false sense of hope that he is going to come back one day, I think Andy Murray needs to stop thinking of himself and start thinking about who he was. Does he have a right to be out there taking wildcards from the young players?”. 

However, Murray stated that such comments provide motivation to him to give his best on the court. The Australian Open will begin from February 8 and it would be interesting to note if Murray will receive a wildcard entry.