Australian Open tournament organisers announced Thursday that they have awarded former World No. 1 Andy Murray a main draw wild card. The Scot will compete at the event for the 14th time.
“I’m really excited to be back playing at the Australian Open and grateful to Craig and the team for the opportunity," Murray said in a statement. "I’ve had some great times in Australia playing in front of the amazing crowds and I can’t wait to step back out on court at Melbourne Park.”
Five-time finalist @andy_murray is awarded a main draw wildcard.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) December 23, 2021
“Andy is renowned for his fighting spirit, passion and love of the game and I’m delighted to welcome him back to Melbourne in January.” - @CraigTiley
We can’t wait to see you at #AO2022, Andy 💪💙#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/pJpBy4qXQT
The 34-year-old owns a 48-13 record at the season’s first major, where he has reached the final five times. The Scot last competed at Melbourne Park in 2019, when he lost against Roberto Bautista Agut in a five-set first-round thriller.
Murray, who was a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year in the 2021 ATP Awards, underwent hip surgery following his 2019 Australian Open appearance. The 46-time tour-level titlist is currently No. 134 in the FedEx ATP Rankings
“Andy is renowned for his fighting spirit, passion and love of the game,” Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said. “I’m delighted to welcome him back to Melbourne in January.”
The ATP Tour season saw stars including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev continue to shine, while others like Casper Ruud and Jannik Sinner broke through.
In the first of a two-part story, ATPTour.com looks at the stats to remember from 2021.
ATP Tour Match Wins Leaders
| Player | 2021 W/L Record | 2021 Titles |
| 1) Daniil Medvedev | 63-13 | 4 |
| 2) Alexander Zverev | 59-15 | 6 |
| 3) Casper Ruud | 57-17 | 5 |
| T4) Novak Djokovic | 55-7 | 5 |
| T4) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 55-19 | 2 |
Medvedev earned a career-high 63 tour-level wins in 2021 to lead all players on the ATP Tour. The Russian's previous best was 59 in 2019. Although Djokovic finished fourth on the list with 55 victories, he had the highest winning percentage by a healthy margin at 88.7 per cent. Medvedev was closest at 82.9 per cent.
2021 Hard Court Leaders
| Player | 2021 W/L Record (Hard) | 2021 Titles (Hard) |
| 1) Daniil Medvedev | 51-8 | 3 |
| 2) Alexander Zverev | 41-9 | 5 |
| 3) Jannik Sinner | 39-14 | 4 |
| 4) Andrey Rublev | 37-16 | 1 |
| 5) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 32-13 | 0 |
Jannik Sinner began the year with 30 tour-level wins, and he exceeded that mark in 2021 on hard courts alone. The Italian, who broke into the Top 10 for the first time in November, won four of his five ATP Tour titles in 2021. All of them came on hard courts, in Melbourne (ATP 250), Washington, Sofia and Antwerp.
2021 Clay Court Leaders
| Player | 2021 W/L Record (Clay) | 2021 Titles (Clay) |
| 1) Casper Ruud | 28-5 | 4 |
| T2) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 23-5 | 2 |
| T2) Federico Delbonis | 23-13 | 0 |
| T4) Rafael Nadal | 19-3 | 2 |
| T4) Albert Ramos-Vinola | 19-11 | 1 |
It is no surprise to see Casper Ruud atop the 2021 clay-court wins list. The Norwegian has long been a standout on that surface, and this year he claimed 28 victories on clay. Stefanos Tsitsipas also surged on the dirt this year with 23 wins. Before the season, the Greek star had won less than 70 per cent of his clay-court matches, but this year he won more than 82 per cent of them (23-5). He claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and advanced to his maiden major final at Roland Garros.
2021 Indoors Leaders
| Player | 2021 W/L Record (Indoors) | 2021 Titles (Indoors) |
| 1) Daniil Medvedev | 18-3 | 1 |
| 2) Jannik Sinner | 17-6 | 2 |
| T3) Alexander Zverev | 13-3 | 1 |
| T3) Marin Cilic | 13-7 | 1 |
| 5) Andrey Rublev | 12-6 | 1 |
Two of Medvedev's three indoor losses in 2021 (18-3) came against two of the top three players in the world. The Russian lost against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Rolex Paris Masters final and World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals. He also earned an indoor title in Marseille, where he dropped just one set.
Tie-Break Wins
| Player | Tie-Break Wins |
| 1) Alexander Zverev | 25-12 |
| 2) Alexei Popyrin | 23-13 |
| T3) John Isner | 22-12 |
| T3) Jannik Sinner | 22-14 |
| T3) Reilly Opelka | 22-17 |
Australian Alexei Popyrin had only won 17 tour-level tie-breaks entering the year, but he showed his prowess under pressure by triumphing in 23 of them this season. Popyrin went 5-0 in tie-breaks at the Singapore Tennis Open, where he lifted his first ATP Tour trophy. He also climbed to a career-best World No. 59 in the FedEx ATP Rankings in November.
Top 10 Wins
| Player | Top 10 Wins |
| 1) Novak Djokovic | 14-4 |
| 2) Alexander Zverev | 12-8 |
| 3) Daniil Medvedev | 10-5 |
| T4) Aslan Karatsev | 5-4 |
| T5) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 5-8 |
Not only did Djokovic have the best winning percentage of anyone on Tour in 2021, but he also was most efficient against the very best. The Serbian won 77.8 per cent of his matches against Top 10 opponents (14-4). Nobody had more Top 10 victories than Djokovic this year. Only five players had an even or winning record against the elite group (at least five matches vs. Top 10): Djokovic, Medvedev (10-5), Zverev (12-8), Aslan Karatsev (5-4) and Rafael Nadal (4-4).
ATP Masters 1000 Wins
| Player | ATP Masters 1000 Wins | Titles |
| 1) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 20-7 | 1 |
| 2) Alexander Zverev | 19-5 | 2 |
| 3) Daniil Medvedev | 18-6 | 1 |
| 4) Andrey Rublev | 17-8 | 0 |
| T5) Casper Ruud | 16-6 | 0 |
| T5) Hubert Hurkacz | 16-7 | 1 |
Zverev was the only player who earned multiple Masters 1000 crowns this year. The German was victorious at the Mutua Madrid Open and the Western & Southern Open. Tsitsipas led the Tour with 20 Masters 1000 match wins.
Decisive Set Wins
| Player | Decisive Set Wins |
| T1) Casper Ruud | 15-3 |
| T1) Stefanos Tsitsipas | 15-12 |
| T3) Daniil Medvedev | 14-5 |
| T3) Kei Nishikori | 14-8 |
| T3) Cameron Norrie | 14-10 |
| T3) Marin Cilic | 14-11 |
| T3) Andrey Rublev | 14-11 |
A big part of Ruud's breakthrough season came in his performance during deciding sets. After losing his first match of the season against Jiri Vesely in a deciding set, the Norwegian went 15-2 for the rest of 2021. His two other defeats came at majors, falling in fifth sets against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at Roland Garros and against Jordan Thompson at Wimbledon.
Read More From Our Best Of 2021 Series
- Research contributed by Greg Sharko
