The Battle of the Brits event due to be held in Aberdeen next week has been postponed due to rising rates of coronavirus.

The exhibition tournament pitting the best male players from Scotland against their English counterparts was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, with Andy and Jamie Murray, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans among those due to take part.

But the rapid increase in cases of Covid-19 and concern over the impact of the Omicron variant has led tournament director Jamie Murray and his organising team to postpone it until 2022.

He said: “Obviously this is incredibly disappointing for all of us organising the event, for the players and, most importantly, for the fans who wanted to come and watch us.

“Andy and I, and all the players due to take part, are absolutely gutted but some things are bigger than tennis. All that matters is keeping everyone safe.

“We’ve been blown away by Aberdeen’s enthusiasm for the event and we’re all looking forward to staging the Schroders Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England in 2022.”

Avoiding testing positive for coronavirus ahead of travelling to Australia later this month will be top of the priority list for all British players.

Andy Murray missed out on a long-awaited Australian Open return earlier this year after an ill-timed bout of the illness and he revealed on Thursday that a planned family Christmas in Scotland has been cancelled.