Murray to get extra practice

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:00

The British number one had been touted as a potential replacement for world number one Roger Federer following his withdrawal at the weekend, but that spot has gone to Ivan Ljubicic.

Murray will instead play a match outside of the round-robin format against an as-yet unnamed opponent.

The 22-year-old’s main Australian Open preparation came at last week’s Hopman Cup, where he played singles and mixed doubles with Laura Robson as the British pair reached the final, but he was keen for another competitive match ahead of the first grand slam of the season.

Ljubicic joins Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling, Juan Martin Del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tommy Haas in the eight-man field.

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