ANDY MURRAY WITHDRAWS FROM NOVAK DJOKOVIC CLASH DUE TO ILLNESS

Andy Murray will have to wait a little longer to take on World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in 2022 as the Scot was forced to withdraw from the pair’s third-round meeting at the Madrid Open on Thursday due to a stomach illness.

The pair were due to meet for the first time in five years at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Spain.

Djokovic’s quarter-final opponent will be decided later on Thursday in the matchup between 12th seed Hubert Hurkacz and qualifier Dusan Lajovic. Djokovic is a three-time champion in Madrid, having lifted the trophy in the Spanish capital in 2011, 2016 and 2019.

On Tuesday, former World number one Andy Murray defeated Denis Shapovalov to reach the third round at the Madrid Open 2022. While the world number one Novak Djokovic thrashed Gael Monfils in his last match. In what has proved a comfortable matchup for the Serb over the years, he snuffed out any chance of that with a 6-3, 6-2 victory to improve to 18-0 against the Frenchman.

Meanwhile No.12 seed Jessica Pegula of the United States marched in the Madrid Open semifinal after she defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.

Pegula faced little hardship in her 6-4 6-2 victory, finally notching her first victory against the Spaniard in three meetings. The American looked dominant in the one-hour 47-minute encounter, as she notched her maiden triumph against the Spaniard.