Murray to host annual charity tennis event in Glasgow

Sse hydro: Scot aims to raise money for children’s causes home and abroad

Andy Murray is to host an annual tennis event in Glasgow to raise money for charity.

The first ‘Andy Murray Live’ will be staged at the SSE Hydro on Wednesday September 21 with all profits split between Unicef and Glasgow charity Young People’s Futures.

The event will see the 2013 Wimbledon champion take on French player Gael Monfils, before he teams up with brother Jamie to play a doubles match against Monfils and former British number one Tim Henman.

The set-up is said to be Murray’s idea and the world number two is looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd.

He said: “I travel the world playing tennis and unfortunately I don’t spend as much time as I would like to at home.

“I owe it to my fans who have supported me throughout the years and what better way than to play in front of them at the SSE Hydro whilst raising money for Young People’s Futures and Unicef.

“I’m looking forward to bringing top-level tennis to Glasgow on an annual basis and making this event bigger and better every year.”

Murray has played in Davis Cup matches in Glasgow but it will be the first tennis event staged in the 14,000capacity Hydro.

The tennis star is a UK ambassador for Unicef and raised thousands of pounds last year for Syrian refugees by donating £50 for every ace he hit in competition.

Young People’s Futures works with hundreds of children and young people aged between five and 18 in the north of Glasgow who live in households with addiction or mental and physical health problems.

Project manager Ann Lawrance said: “Young People’s Futures are overwhelmed and so thankful to Andy Murray for choosing our project from many Scottish charities.”

Tickets are on sale from today priced between £22.70 and £113.50.

Picture: PA. Andy Murray announces his plans for the Glasgow event at a press conference at Wimbledon.