Next week’s Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England tennis event in Aberdeen has been postponed due to rising Covid cases.
The P&J Live event was set to feature Scottish tennis icons Andy and Jamie Murray, as well as stars like Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans, with singles and doubles matches spread across two days and three sessions of action,
It will now take place in 2022.
Organisers said they had done ‘everything’ for the event to go ahead next Tuesday and Wednesday in the Granite City, despite growing fears over the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
We're so sorry but due to the rising spread of COVID-19, we are going to postpone our event until 2022. We did everything we could to make it happen but we need to keep you safe. New dates tbc in the New Year 🎾 #battleofthebrits @jamie_murray @PandJLive @Schroders
— Schroders Battle of The Brits (@BattleofTheBrit) December 17, 2021
Jamie Murray, who as well as being a key player for Team Scotland in the event is also Battle of the Brits tournament director, announced the news on Twitter: “As a result of the rising spread of Covid-19, Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England will be postponed.
“Obviously disappointing for the fans, but what matters is keeping everyone safe.
“We’ve been blown away by Aberdeen’s enthusiasm for the event and looking forward to next year.”
As a result of the rising spread of COVID-19, @BattleofTheBrit will be postponed. Obviously disappointing for the fans but what matters is keeping everyone safe. We’ve been blown away by Aberdeen’s enthusiasm for the event and looking forward to next year #battleofthebrits 🏴🏴🎾
— Jamie Murray (@jamie_murray) December 17, 2021
The multiple Grand Slam-winning doubles and mixed doubles player, 36, then followed up with a video message further explaining why the event has been called off for now.
Murray said: “Hi everyone, just a quick message to say we are really sorry that we are going to have to postpone the Battle of the Brits – Scotland v England event for this year and look to do something in 2022.
“There’s been a lot of work gone into this for the last year, a lot of hard yards, a lot of sacrifice from a lot of people to get it to this point. But, unfortunately, with everything that’s going on in the country, it just doesn’t feel right to put on an event with large participation.
“I just want to thank the players for their commitment to the event, which allowed us to get it to the point where we were going to run it.
“All the fans who were really excited to come out and watch live tennis and see us all compete – we’re sorry to you guys, but we want to keep everyone safe, especially over Christmas and New Year.
“We want to thank our sponsors and hope you guys will be with us next year.
“Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas, a happy new year and hopefully Battle of the Brits will be back in 2022.”
We did everything we could to make it happen, new dates to be confirmed in the new year #battleofthebrits 🏴🏴🎾 @Schroders @jamie_murray pic.twitter.com/XNHeDDMeiO
— Schroders Battle of The Brits (@BattleofTheBrit) December 17, 2021
The news of the postponement was met with disappointment by tennis fans but many agreed it was the correct decision.
One said: “We were looking forward to this next week, but believe that you are making the right decision. It will give us something to look forward to in the New Year.”
Jim Harvey said: “Hard as it may have been this is the right decision. Looking forward to the rearranged event in 2022.”
Ann Lander said: “Oh, what a shame, but you’ve made a wise decision.”
