Murray opens door for an unlikely Australian fairytale
ANDY Murray’s withdrawal from next month’s Australian Open could pave the way for one of the most unlikely fairytales in tournament history.
The former world No.1 and three-times grand slam champion had accepted a wildcard until he contracted COVID in the week before he was due to depart.
Murray confirmed at the weekend he wouldn’t fly to Australia.
That leaves two men’s wildcards up for grabs, although one is reserved for promising Australian Alexei Popyrin.
Tennis Australia is yet to confirm whether a ‘lucky loser’ will fill Murray’s vacant spot, or if the wildcard could still be in play.
American Steve Johnson was the latest player to pull out, meaning there are already five lucky losers from final-round qualifying in the draw.
A wildcard can’t go to a player who’s already contested qualifying, and there are quarantine complications in an overseas player receiving one.
That’s why there is support emerging for unranked South Australian Li Tu.
Tu is an ex-Australian Junior Davis Cup teammate of Thanasi Kokkinakis, but stopped competing professionally almost seven years ago with a careerbest ATP ranking of 1188.
At age 24 and paying the bills as a coach at Peake Gardens Riverside and East Adelaide Payneham tennis clubs, he opted to play a few UTR Pro Tennis Series events in July “for fun”.
Tu won all 12 of his matches in the three Adelaide tournaments and convinced himself to test his luck interstate. His 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Australian Open wildcard and world No.124 Marc Polmans in Bendigo on Sunday means he’s won 26 of his 28 UTR tournament matches.
“Honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Tu told the Daily Telegraph.
“I feel like it’s a long shot, but it’s pretty exciting to think about and I know the tennis community is getting around it. I haven’t been in conversations with TA after the win, but I was speaking to (director of performance) Wally Masur before the AO about a wildcard for the lead-ins, which he said was a slight chance.”