Due to a stomach sickness, Andy Murray withdrew from his round of 16 match against Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open on Thursday.
Murray, a three-time major champion, was due to face Djokovic for the 37th time at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. Murray and Djokovic would have faced off for the first time since Djokovic won the Doha final in 2017.
"Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness," tournament organizers said in a statement on social media. "Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day's play on Centre court."
With a walkover victory, Djokovic made it to the quarterfinals. Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Dusan Lajovic 7-5, 6-3, will be his opponent next.
Murray, who had previously stated that he would forgo the clay-court season to safeguard his fitness, accepted a late wild card in Madrid and won his first two matches against Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov. Since January, the former No. 1 hadn't won consecutive matches.
Murray, who is ranked 78th in the world, has been steadily climbing the rankings since undergoing hip surgery in both 2018 and 2019. He came to Madrid with a 10-8 record in eight tournaments, including a loss to Aslan Karatsev in the Sydney final in January.