Murray to miss Rome after stomach upset

Former world No 1 Andy Murray has decided not to play in next week’s Rome Masters after the stomach upset he suffered in Madrid.

The Scot pulled out of the Madrid Masters before his third-round meeting with world No 1 Novak Djokovic, having beaten Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov to get there.

Ranked 78 and due to climb to No 69 on Monday, Murray had been set to enter the qualifying event in Rome but is now expected to decide on his schedule for the coming weeks by the beginning of next week.

Originally, the 35-year-old had planned to skip the entire clay-court season, choosing to prepare instead with coach Ivan Lendl for the grass-court season and in particular, Wimbledon, where he feels he has the best shot of making a big run.

But having shown good form in practice, he changed his mind and took a wildcard into Madrid, paying back the organisers for their faith with two strong performances against Thiem and Shapovalov.

Murray is still entered in the French Open draw.

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