Day six of the Australian Open, with lots of matches to catch up with due to the disrupted schedule of the day before all the players managed to get onto the courts to play their matches. However, one story today has made the tennis take a back seat.
Whilst the evening matches of Ana Ivanovic and Andy Murray were taking place (Ivanovic on Rod Laver, Murray on Margaret Court ) there was an incident on Rod Laver Arena that caused a temporarily postponement of the Ivanovic match. The original announcement was that someone in the crowd had collapsed and the match would be postponed whilst the paramedics dealt with the incident.
This would effect both matches, but in very different ways. Murray was blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding and this was a good thing, as had he realised who had been involved there is very little doubt he would have forfeited the rest of the match. Family is very important to the Brit, who has already stated that he will leave the Australian Open and fly home if his wife Kim goes in to labour early. She is not due to give birth until around the middle of February but Murray does not want to miss the birth of his first child.
Why would this effect Murray, a person in the crowd collapsing? Simple, that person was the coach of Ivanovic and is Nigel Sears. In addition to being coach to Ivanovic, Sears is Murray’s father-in-law. Had he been informed of the situation on the next court, he would have wanted to be with him and be able to re-assure his wife that everything is OK.
The reports coming out of the event have stated that by the time the paramedics had helped Sears into the ambulance, the Brit was conscious, sitting up and talking. Whilst in the hospital he requested a television so he could continue to watch Ivanovic play the rest of her match.
Murray still was unaware during his match what had happened. Once the match had finished he was taken to one side and advised that Sears was in hospital. He met his mother in the players’ tunnel and went directly to the hospital to see his father-in-law. There were no press conferences after the matches to allow the two players to get straight off court and go directly to the hospital. Sears will be kept in for tests but is sitting up and joking, according to Jamie Murray, who had been in regular contact.
