Faulty service call on Andy’s swift return

ANDY MURRAY lost to Sam Querrey, but he was still lionised on social media for this exchange with an experienced tennis journalist...

Questioner: Sam is the first US player to reach a major semi-final since 2009. Murray: Male player. It was seen as a hefty blow against casual sexism, with Nicola Sturgeon rushing to Twitter to gush over Andy.

“What a star Andy Murray is – on and off the court,” tweeted Scotland’s First Minister.

Murray’s instinctive response was admirable, showing he believes the women’s and men’s game deserve equal billing. Excellent. Love it. But casual sexism from the writer? Do me a favour.

He was working in a press conference to discuss a men’s singles quarter-final result. The whole context of it was the men’s singles. The reporter assumed Murray (above) would know he was talking about the men’s singles tournament.

Every time journalists, male or female, ask a question at next week’s Open about past achievements in Majors, should they couch it in terms of both men’s and women’s golf?

Or seniors’ golf? After all, one doesn’t want to be casually ageist.

Question to Danny Willett: “How does it feel to be the last British winner of a Major?”

Willett: ‘I’m not. Paul Broadhurst won the British Seniors Open in July last year.”

Would he be garlanded for calling out casual ageism? Or called a smart alec?

Murray was not being a smart alec, nor was the questioner casually sexist.

There should be more important things for equality campaigners to get worked up about.