Andy is recovering and will be ready for Federer in Glasgow!
HE’S coming home. Andy Murray has been bruised, battered and hobbled by battles from Melbourne to Miami, from the grass courts at Wimbledon to the ash of Paris and to the unforgiving hard courts that wreak a merciless toll on the bodies of the top tennis players.
The first steps to his full recovery on court will be made at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on November 7 when he plays Roger Federer in a match for charity and also will team up with a member of the public to face his mother, Judy, and his brother, Jamie, in a doubles match.
It will be the only appearance on court this year by the double Wimbledon champion as he recuperates before launching another assault on the major prizes next year.
The indications are he will come back not only fit but refreshed.
His mother, promoting an initiative to find a partner from the public for the three-time grand slam winner for the Glasgow event, takes encouragement for her son in the comebacks of Rafa Nadal and Federer, who took a break from the sport through injury and returned to win the four grand slams this season.
‘It is incredible what they have done and it all goes back to the advice and the advances there have been in sports science. It allows you to say: “I know exactly what I am dealing with. I am going to take the time out, I am going to get it right, and I’m going to come back”,’ she said yesterday at John Paul Academy in Summerston, Glasgow.
‘And, of course, you don’t just rest your body, you rest your mind as well. The tennis tour is 11 months of the year and mentally it is absolutely draining with all the travel. It is a huge pressure.’
The trip to Glasgow will, in contrast, be a joyous homecoming with an adoring support and a charitable endgame.
‘It is going to be a real occasion, she said. ‘It is a huge thing to be able to bring world-class tennis to Glasgow and to be bringing Roger Federer, possibly the greatest player of all time, to Scotland.
The brothers also bring a wonderful history to their city of their birth. They share eight grand slam titles, two Olympic golds, one Olympic silver and a Davis Cup triumph. And both have been world No 1s in their respective disciplines.
They also share a love of playing in front of a home crowd.
‘It is a huge thing for Andy — but it is a huge thing too for the whole family — because we are all involved in the sport in different ways,’ said Murray.
‘We want to grow the game up here on the back of their success and we don’t have any major events up here unless we are given a home Davis Cup tie.’
Andy Murray Live was created to do exactly that with the first event held last year.
‘It gives the boys that opportunity to play in front of your home crowd in your home country. You can never underestimate what that means,’ she said.
The injury woes have sharpened focus on how long Scotland can expect to have two players at the top of the world game.
Jamie, at 31, could play on for a decade as the doubles game places lesser demands on the body but Andy, at 30, has no plans to retire, stating his prolonged rehabilitation is to ensure another tilt at grand slam victories.
‘They are both as driven as ever,’ said their mother. ‘They love what they do, they always have. I think that is a throwback to falling in love with the game as little kids. They watch huge amounts of tennis, on the men’s and women’s side. They are both on the ATP player council, they give back, so I don’t see any reason why any of that should change.’
Murray is pleased that her sons will still be competing as her academy at Park of Keir, near Dunblane, is being built.
‘It is a wonderful opportunity now to create a lasting legacy
for them — in our back yard,’ she said of the £37million development.
‘I am a huge advocate of getting more people physically active and I would like that to be through tennis, although obviously Park of Keir has golf, football, a gym and an adventure playground.’
She added: ‘It has taken us almost five years to get to this point and it will still be another 18 months to two years for the build to be fully operational.
‘For me, it has always been about capitalising on what the boys are doing while they are still doing it. That is why my concern was that they wouldn’t have anything by the time they stopped playing. You lose that massive opportunity, because it is huge leverage.
‘The last 10 years have been a really golden time for tennis in Scotland and we haven’t really capitalised on it at all. I am obviously hoping the boys will still be playing by the time this gets up and running but, regardless of whether they are or not, they will still be a big part of it.
‘They are every bit as keen as me to ensure that they have a legacy and that we can give back to the sport beyond their playing days.’
There has already been a happy homecoming for the Murray family as Jamie visited Dunblane after winning the mixed doubles title with Martina Hingis at the US Open last week.
‘The boys don’t get a chance to come home that often because of the demands of the circuit, so it was nice for him to celebrate with the family,’ she said.
‘I put out the congratulations banners outside the house — and inside the house. No, we are not getting blasé about it at all.’
The roars in the SSE Hydro in November will testify, too, that the rest of Scotland shares this sense of wonder and elation at the exploits of two of its most extraordinary sons.