Murray pulls out of Valencia Open

Murray to sit out Valencia Open

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Friday, 11, Apr 2008 09:37

Andy Murray has pulled out of the Valencia Open after picking up a virus, it has been confirmed.

The British number one was hoping that the Spanish event would help him improve his world ranking, which has slipped to number 22 after a series of poor performances.

However, the 20-year-old will now sit out the tournament due to his illness and it anticipated that he will play in his first clay court event of the season at the Paris Open in May.

To prepare for the Grand Slam, the Scot will return to action at the Masters series tournament in Monte Carlo on April 21st.

So far this year, Murray has won two ATP tournaments this year at Qater and Marseille, though last month's defeat to the German Tommy Haas in Indian Wells saw him drop out of the world top 20 for the first time since August 2006.

The news comes soon after Murray's rival Rafael Nadal criticised the changes made to the ATP Tour calender, arguing that the fixture congestion is making the players' lives "impossible", particularly when it comes to the clay-court circuit.