Andy Murray has tested positive for Covid-19, days before he was due to fly out to Melbourne to compete in tennis’ season-opening Australian Open.

Murray’s management team confirmed the news on Thursday morning, with the former world number one believed to be suffering from minor symptoms.

It is said that the Scot returned the positive test a number of days ago.

The news throws his participation in next month’s Australian Open into doubt.

The event starts on February 8, and all overseas arrivals to the country need to complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Murray has already completed several days of self-isolation, but may face a race against time to make it into Melbourne in order to compete in the tournament.

The Australian Open are currently exploring whether leeway can be provided in its existing rules on quarantine.

Most flights to Australia are leaving within the next 48 hours, with over 1,000 members of tennis personnel expected to be present at the tournament.

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Murray did not play in the Australian Open last season due to a hip injury, and was knocked out in the first and second rounds of the French Open and US Open respectively as he made a gradual return to the court.

He has had some success in terms of victories in the traditional season-opening event, having reached five finals, but he finished as runner-up on each of those occasions.

It was also the scene in which he announced his potential retirement tennis in 2019 due to his ongoing injury problems, but he underwent a successful hip operation later on in the season and subsequently announced his return to competitive tennis.

If he is able to compete in this season’s event, it will be as a wildcard entry, with the 33-year-old’s relative inactivity in recent years meaning he has dropped to world number 123.