Nigel Sears, who collapsed at the Australian Open on Saturday night, was cleared on Sunday afternoon to leave hospital and fly home to the UK, where his daughter, Kim, is expecting Andy Murray’s child in the next few weeks.

“My medical advice is that I will be allowed to leave the hospital shortly and I have been cleared to fly back to the UK in the next day or so,” said Sears.

He had fallen to the ground while watching his player, Ana Ivanovic, during her match against the American Madison Keys – at the same time Murray was playing Joao Sousa on an adjoining court.

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“I just wanted to express my sincerest thanks to the incredible people who came to my aid, as well as the brilliant staff both at the Australian Open and the Epworth hospital,” Sears said.



“I feel truly grateful to everyone involved for the manner in which this has been handled. While I appreciate the level of media interest in this story I would prefer not to comment any further, thanks.”



Medics applied a defibrillator to Sears and gave him an ECG test in the ambulance on the way to the nearby Epworth hospital, where he had further tests and then appeared to recover quickly.



He felt well enough to ask for a television so he could watch the tennis on Sunday.



The Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said: “All of the tennis family is both relieved and pleased to hear that Nigel is being released from hospital. We wish him well and hope to see him back on the court soon.”



Ivanovic, who took up with Sears as her coach again after they split in 2011, told friends he had experienced a couple of similar episodes recently. However, other confidants who have worked with him regularly in the media said they had seen no signs of frailty in the 58-year-old coach, who plays a lot of golf, works out most days and eats well.