Thousands of workers are expected to pull a sickie this Wednesday as tennis player Andy Murray, the British Wimbledon hopeful, faces Rafael Nadal.

Research by personnel software company Employersafe suggests that employees dodging work already costs British business £1 million a week, adding to Britain’s £13 billion workplace absenteeism crisis.

Employment experts predict that staff across the country will bunk off work or miss at least half a day in order to watch the Scottish 21-year-old meet Nadal.

Long lunches, a meeting out of the office, and a doctor’s appointment are likely to be the top three excuses for people avoiding their jobs.

Pam Rogerson, head of personnel at Employersafe, said: “It’s that time of year and Wimbledon has once again gripped the nation following Andy Murray’s dramatic win over Gasquet. Our evidence suggests that many workers will see the prospect of him repeating the feat against Nadal as too good to miss.”

Employersafe is helping bosses counteract the problem of fake sickies with a computer programme that tracks patterns in workers’ absence.