Murray falls ill as Dan goes down fighting

It took more than five years for Andy Murray to set up a rematch against Novak Djokovic, and one day of gastric problems to ruin it.

their third-round match at the Madrid Open was called off less than an hour beforehand yesterday, leaving Murray to contemplate abandoning his return to Europe’s clay courts.

He had planned to enter qualifying for next week’s Italian Open but was left weakened by spending most of Wednesday in bed with

in Madrid

stomach problems. Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez said Murray believed he had suffered food poisoning, although the Scot was not sure what had caused the issue. A Covid test ruled out that being the cause.

the two-time Wimbledon champion was too sapped to play a match that would have been the perfect test of his recent improvement.

He is likely to decide today whether to take any part in Rome, where qualifying begins tomorrow. that is his only way in as all maindraw wildcards have been allocated. If Murray does not play it would end thoughts of him reversing his decision to skip the French Open in order to concentrate on the grass.

Murray’s bad luck meant Dan Evans was promoted to the main court for his match against Andrey Rublev, which the Russian won 7-6, 7-5. Evans (above) drove him to distraction with his mix of slices and spins, with Rublev growing so frustrated in the second set that he cut his hand by punching his racket strings. the Russian partly put that down to the British No 2, saying: ‘He is a fighter and one of the smartest players on the tour.’ World No8 Rublev added that, even with threats of legal action in the air, he does not expect to be at Wimbledon. ‘I already made a statement that it (the ban on Russian players) makes no sense,’ he said. ‘I understand that most likely I’m not going.’