Andy Murray hits back at suggestions he should reject Madrid Open wildcard amid social media backlash
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ByEurosport
Published 21/04/2022 at 12:53 GMT
Andy Murray will be making his first appearance at the Madrid Open since 2017 when he exited at the third round against Borna Coric. The three-time Grand Slam winner has reversed his decision to skip the entirety of the clay court season to compete in Madrid, but the world No. 51 has been criticised by some on social media for accepting a wildcard at the expense of younger Spanish players.
Andy Murray
Image credit: Getty Images
Andy Murray has hit back at suggestions he should not have been offered a wildcard to the main draw of the Madrid Open.
The former British number one, who is a two-time Madrid Open winner in 2008 and 2015, was due to skip the clay-court season to focus on training for the grass-court swing and Wimbledon after reuniting with Ivan Lendl as his coach.
Murray is yet to decide whether he will compete at the French Open in May, but he has been training on clay in Florida and has now accepted a wildcard into the Madrid Masters tournament which gets underway next week.
The three-time Grand Slam champion was one of nine players across the men's and women's tournaments to receive a wildcard.
Former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco pointed out on Twitter that only one of the players who got one is Spanish; the 20-year-old Carlos Gimeno.
"We find it surprising, as well as very frustrating, that the biggest event of tennis in Spain shows such little support for Spanish tennis players with the invitations granted, especially to the main draw,” Verdasco wrote.
Verdasco added: “Commercial interests have prevailed over those of Spanish sport."
World No.3 Paula Badosa replied to her compatriot's tweet, saying: "Very sad to see things like this for Spanish tennis. When there is a lot of potential...
"A year ago I entered the tournament for a WC and I had one of the best tournaments of my career. A tournament that I will never forget thanks to a WC."
"It's a huge opportunity for everyone, and it's a shame that the only tournament we have at a level like this, this happens... We have to give our tennis players opportunities to continue growing."
Murray responded to a fan on Twitter who suggested he has taken a spot from a home player, saying: "More than happy to play qualifying. Will most likely play qualies in Rome. If a tournament invites me to come and play in the main draw are you suggesting I should turn it down and play qualies?”
Earlier on Wednesday, Murray tweeted: “Amazing how quickly people forget in tennis."
The other seven players to receive wildcards are Jack Draper (Great Britain) Lucas Pouille (France), Naomi Osaka (Japan), Monica Puig (Puerto Rico), Linda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic), Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) and Qinwen Zheng (China).
The Madrid Open gets underway on May 1 and finishes on May 8.
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