Andy Murray may miss Australian Open due to positive COVID-19 test

Andy Murray may be forced to miss the Australian Open after testing positive for COVID-19 a few days before his scheduled flight to Melbourne. An official statement from the Australian Open said that Murray was self-isolating at his home in England.

"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 statement said. "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."

The Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Feb. 8, several weeks after when it was originally set to be played. Participants are expected to arrive in Melbourne in mid-January in order to finish quarantine in time for the tournament's start, putting Murray's status in danger due to his positive COVID test. 

Murray could still potentially participate in the tournament, as Tennys Sandgren, an American tennis player, was granted special clearance to board a charter flight to Melbourne despite testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. According to tournament protocols, Murray would need to provide a negative test before flying and then continue to test negative daily upon arrival.

If Murray is unable to get special clearance, he would not be the only big name in tennis missing the Australian Open, as Roger Federer announced in December that he would be withdrawing from the tournament due to his knee not being 100%.