Andy Murray's father-in-law Nigel Sears to be released from hospital after collapse

Andy Murray's father-in-law Nigel Sears is expected to be released from hospital on Sunday after he collapsed during Ana Ivanovic's Australian Open defeat to Madison Keys.

Sears, who coaches Ivanovic, needed medical treatment before being stretchered out of Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.

The 58-year-old spent the night in Epworth Hospital in Melbourne while undergoing a series of tests and has thanked those who helped him at the arena and at the hospital.

"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," Sears said.

"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.

"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."

Murray, who was playing Portugal's Joao Sousa on the Margaret Court Arena at the time, was oblivious to the incident, but visited Sears in hospital following his four-set victory.

Sears' daughter and Murray's wife Kim has remained in the UK during the Australian Open as she is expecting her first child, which is due in February.

The incident caused a 50-minute delay in the match between Ivanovic and Keys, with Ivanovic leading 6-4 1-0 at the time before falling to a 6-4 4-6 4-6 defeat to the 15th seed.

The match was Ivanovic's second straight to be interrupted by a medical emergency. She was left badly shaken when an elderly spectator fell on a flight of stairs during her match in the same arena on Thursday.

This is Sears' second spell working with Ivanovic after he was reappointed as her coach in July last year.

He has previously worked with Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova and also as captain of the British Fed Cup team.