Andy Murray makes clay-court U-turn as he is handed Madrid Open wildcard

ATP Tour
Andy Murray on clay

Andy Murray will play on clay this year after all as the former world No 1 has accepted a wildcard entry into the Madrid Open.

Three-time Grand Slam winner announced in February that he would skip the entire red dirt season this year in order to keep himself fresh for the grass-court campaign.

“I had a busy end of last year and the next couple of months I won’t take any risks and hopefully get a good build up to the grass season,” he said at the time.

However, he has been practising on the surface in recent weeks and on Wednesday it was confirmed that he will be in the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid after being handed a wildcard.

Murray is a two-time Madrid Open champion having won the title in 2008 and 2015, but his last appearance at the tournament was in 2017 as he missed the bulk of the next three seasons after undergoing hip surgery.

The Madrid Open runs from May 2-9 and world No 83 Murray could also still enter the Italian Open, which starts on May 9, but it remains unlikely that he will play at the French Open.

Andy Murray

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