Tennis-Murray withdraws from Djokovic clash in Madrid due to illness

Andy Murray has withdrawn from his last-16 match against world number one Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open on Thursday due to illness, tournament organizers said. Three-times major winner Murray was set to face Djokovic for the 37th time in a highly anticipated clash on clay at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the Spanish capital.

"Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness," organizers wrote on Twitter. "Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day's play on center court."

Former world number one Murray, who had earlier said he would skip the claycourt season in order to protect his fitness, accepted a late wildcard in Madrid and beat Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov in his opening two matches.