Andy Murray will replace Daniil Medvedev at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam as the Russian elected to skip over the event.
Medvedev last played in the Australian Open final where he suffered a devastating loss to Rafael Nadal. Medvedev generally does not skip events unless he has to but it seems the defeat affected him in a different way. He famously vented his frustration after the event for the treatment he received from the fans in Melbourne.
He also had some treatment done on his leg which might indicate some sort of physical issue as well. He will be replaced by Andy Murray who has had a fair share of success in Rotterdam. Medvedev released a statement on his withdrawal saying:
"Unfortunately I will not play in Rotterdam this year. I just got back from Australia and am not ready to compete. Rotterdam is one of the favourite stops on the Tour and Richard does a great job for the players there. I look forward to coming back in the future.”
Event director Krajicek said:
"We were still hopeful that Daniil Medvedev would come back to his earlier statement that he did not want to play another tournament so soon after the lost Australian Open final, but unfortunately he has not lost that feeling yet. Fortunately, we were able to secure another Grand Slam winner at the last minute with Andy Murray.”
Another top player in Jannik Sinner also elected to skip over the event and he will be replaced by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Former champions @andy_murray and @tsonga7 replace Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner in the 49th ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. Both will receive a wildcard from the organization for the tournament that starts next Saturday.🎾abnamrowtt.nl/en/news/headli…
