JUDY’S LABOUR OF LOVE
JUDY Murray has had her share of the spotlight – and to say the glare of publicity hasn’t always been kind would be an understatement.
She knows that when she watches Grand Slam-winning sons Andy and Jamie, cameras will often snap moments of anxiety, a furrowed brow or fist-pump.
This led to the 58-year-old once being perceived as pushy and cold and in her memoir Knowing The Score, she reflects on her first time in the box at Wimbledon in 2005.
Judy wrote: “We are used to seeing the energy of a father-son dynamic or the encouragement of a father with a daughter but people seemed not to know what to make of a competitive mother who is unashamedly ambitious on her son’s behalf.
“That summer, almost every single image used of me supporting Andy had me snarling, baring my teeth or looking pained.
“There was very little that was relaxed or celebratory despite me feeling hugely excited and proud most of the time.” Even now, Judy, from Dunblane, doesn’t find it easy to watch. She added: “It’s like a mixture of severe nausea and a heart attack all going on at the same time and I’m actually surprised I’m still alive.” Judy dealt stoically with the criticism that she was pushy and cold. She said: “I wouldn’t let anybody know that it hurt. “I didn’t find my voice until years later and Andy won his first Grand Slam. That gave me the confidence to speak out.” She tackled Boris Becker
on a TV show after he said Andy wouldn’t win a Grand Slam unless he ditched his mother – he went on to win three with Judy very much around.
She said: “I let him know just exactly how it made me feel. But he basically just claimed that he’d been right. He never apologised.”
Judy, whose “spectacularly dreadful” dancing – her words – on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 earned her new fans, has taken steps to avoid cameras capturing her in an unflattering light.
She said: “The first year Andy played at Wimbledon, the BBC had done a slow-motion of me clapping with my hands above my head, and I had a vest top on.
“In slow motion, everything wobbles. I’m not exactly big but it looked absolutely horrendous.
“I vowed from that moment that I would not clap with my hands above my head and I’ve never worn a vest top to tennis since.”
A few years ago, she had her hair
lightened to “white-hot blonde” and got her teeth done.
Judy said: “I had a real terror of the dentist as a result of a bad experience when I was about 10.
“When I was in the public eye, I realised I wasn’t comfortable smiling and made the decision to do something about it.
“It’s one of the best things I’ve done because it gave me a whole lot of confidence to smile again.”
“I’m happy with what I’ve got. I’ve got loads of laughter lines and crows’ feet but they are all just part
of you. I sat with a scowl on my face watching tennis in the sun for many years but I laugh a lot now, so I’ve a lot of laughter lines.”
Judy, who divorced husband William in 2005, is philosophical about finding love, especially as she is so busy with her career.
The former national coach for Scotland and captain of the Great Britain Fed Cup team – the female equivalent of the Davis Cup – has long campaigned to grow women’s tennis and raise its profile.
She laughed: “I’m not sure I’d be able to find someone who’d put up with me.
“I’m all over the place and I love being busy and being able to do what I want to do, when I want. But who knows? Never say never.
“I have six very close friends who keep me sane and I spend as much time as I can with them.”
Her main hope now is that Andy will have recovered sufficiently from hip surgery to play at this year’s Wimbledon, which starts on July 2.
With Scotland hoping for good news, Judy said: “He’s doing everything he can to get ready.
“It’s always his aim to be back for the grass court season. Fingers crossed he can do that.
“It will be entirely up to him. The strength and depth of the men’s game is so great now that I don’t think any of the top players would come back until they are 100 per cent.”
She’s too savvy to say who she thinks is going to win this year. Judy added: “I never make predictions until a tournament is under way and you actually see how people are performing on the surface and the conditions.”
Knowing The Score: My Family and Our Tennis Story by Judy Murray is out now, priced £8.99.
I wouldn’t let anyone know the criticism hurt. I didn’t find my voice until years later
JUDY MURRAY ON BEING BRANDED COLD AND PUSHY