The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Murray absence hasn’t helped the other Brits
You might have thought that the vacuum Andy Murray has left in British tennis while he’s been out injured would have been a good thing for Johanna Konta. As the highest ranked player in the men’s or women’s game in his absence, there was an opportunity for her to build on her Wimbledon performance and grab the spare column inches and airtime that Murray had left.
It’s not as simple as that, though. First of all, I think most people, other than the real tennis diehards, would admit that interest in the likes of the Australian Open isn’t the same without the main man in the draw.
You’re aware of how the big names like Federer are doing but the alarm isn’t getting set for ridiculous times in the morning to watch him play.
And for Konta, since Wimbledon it hasn’t really happened for her.
She ended 2017 on a five-match losing streak and has now been dumped out of the Aussie Open very early – a tournament that was wide open for the women.
Konta came out with all the right soundbites afterwards about taking the positives and all that but it’s probably not a coincidence that her slump has coincided with Murray’s lay-off.
It’s not just the media and the British public who will miss Murray when he’s gone – it will be the other GB players.
When he’s competing he takes all the focus off the rest of them and lets them make their mistakes without too much analysis.
He’s their umbrella.
It’s a bit of a vicious circle for Konta and I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see her best form until Murray comes back in the summer.
Too early for Sharapova success
They say all publicity is good publicity and, for a sport like curling that struggles to be heard, that may well be true.
But I’m not sure if it’s the case for tennis, which is as high profile an individual sport as there is.
Maria Sharapova winning the Aussie Open wouldn’t be great.
The pre-tournament publicity with her front and centre at the draw felt a bit wrong and to see her lifting the trophy would too.
It still feels a bit early after her ban to see Sharapova at the pinnacle of her sport.
Timely boost sought
This week is our last competition before the Olympics.
The Glynhill Ladies at Braehead is an event we’ve always tried to support. You couldn’t pick a better way to head off to the Games than by winning on home ice in front of friends and family.
We’re at the stage now that all people want to talk to us about is the Olympics.
It’s just a fact of life even if you do find yourself giving the same sort of answers thousands of times!
Curling is a great sport for keeping you grounded and it was nice to play a game in the Perth Super League the other night.
When I’m finished competing, I still think I’ll go back to playing at that level.
There’s not many sports where club players can play against former world champions like Dave Smith and players about to go to an Olympics.
Hopefully the team from Forfar who we played against on Wednesday night will be able to say they lost in seven ends to the Olympic gold medallists!
When he’s competing he takes all the focus off the rest of them and lets them make their mistakes without too much analysis