Murray to mentor stars of the future

WORLD No 1 Andy Murray wants to mentor a top sporting prospect and is looking at possibilities in tennis, golf, football, rugby and athletics.

The plan is for someone to join Murray’s management company 77, which was set up in 2013 to cater for the Wimbledon champion.

Murray, eager to make a contribution when his playing career is over, would pass on his stellar knowledge of how to become a champion. And the Scot has already shown how good he would be in a mentoring role, taking a keen interest in the fortunes of other British tennis players.

Agency 77 would not name any individual targets, but British No 2 Kyle Edmund, who is known to be frustrated with current advisors IMG and often credits Davis Cup team-mate Murray for helping his career, is an obvious fit.

THERE is significant disquiet among doubles players about the prize money on offer at Wimbledon compared with the three other Grand Slams. The winning purse of £400,000 is smaller than at the US Open (£484,496) and the French Open (£438,600). Only the Australian Open (£382,000) at the current exchange rate has a smaller pot to share for the men’s and women’s doubles victors. It is all the more frustrating for the doubles competitors because the All England Club always hype their singles prize money. A Wimbledon spokeswoman said: ‘There was a greater percentage prize money increase in doubles than singles this year and we believe the level is appropriate.’

BUSTER MOTTRAM (right), the former GB Davis Cup star who has spent more than 30 years on the All England temporary membership list with no hope of being upgraded, has resumed using the club on a daily basis. This habit ceased on 2015 when Mottram served a three-month ban for viewing ‘inappropriate’ material on club computers — thought to be his stocks and shares portfolio. The scandal has not stopped right-wing Mottram still making the most of the membership facilities, although these are withdrawn during the Championships.

IT AMAZES foreign tennis writers that All England Club blazers, rather than trained broadcast professionals, moderate post-match player press conferences. It does not work on high-pressure occasions such as when Novak Djokovic was asked yesterday about John McEnroe comparing the Serbian’s loss of form with Tiger Woods’s downfall. At the Masters, the Augusta members fulfil the moderator role and that event has by far the biggest influence on what Wimbledon do.