Andy Murray news: Brit wants to see Novak Djokovic back at majors

Australian Open
Andy Murray talks to the media

Andy Murray believes that the sport of tennis suffers heavily if World no 1 Novak Djokovic is not present at major events.

The Serb missed last month’s Australian Open owing to his anti-vaccination beliefs and refusal to take a COVID-19 jab.

Andy Murray news: Former world No 1 says ex-players have encouraged him to ‘keep playing as long as he can’

As things stand, Djokovic is also set to miss the Indian Wells tournament. Due to his current vaccination status, he is not permitted to enter the United States.

“I don’t agree with his decision, i think it would be a lot easier for him if he was to get vaccinated,” Murray said at a press conference after his Dubai Open win over Christopher O’ Connell.

“But i didn’t like seeing him in the situation he was in in Australia as someone I respect and have known since I was a child. I didn’t like seeing that.

“It would be better for tennis if he was playing all the major events, but there are consequences to the decision he has made and he obviously has to accept that, but I don’t think it’s great for tennis if our best player is not competing in the major events.

Since returning from injury, Murray has showed some good touches. The former world no 1 is however adamant that his consistency still needs a lot of improvement.

“There’s a number of guys in the top 25 or 30 in the world, I’ve beaten 12 or 13 of them since I came back. The consistency has not been there, I’m aware of that, but there have been times I’ve played well.

“The last seven or eight months have been tough. I’m trying to not to get too disappointed by maybe not performing as well as I’d like. I’m just accepting or trying to accept the situation that I’m in just now.

“I want to be doing better, and I have an opportunity this week to achieve a goal of mine. I want to get to 700 match wins which when it happens will be a great achievement. I want to get that in the next round so I’m focused on that.”

Andy Murray Novak Djokovic

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