Andy wanted to be The Rock when he was a kid, says Judy
ANDY MURRAY’S road to sporting glory involved donning a fake Andre Agassi ponytail, pretending to be a WWF wrestler fighting for a cardboard belt and upturning any board game when he was losing.
The world No2’s love of many sports and his desire to win was apparent from an early age, according to mum Judy, who says he was also inspired by getting close to his heroes.
‘Role models were very important to the boys,’ says Judy Murray, of Andy, 29, and brother Jamie, 30, the world No1 in doubles.
‘I can remember the boys watching on television when they were very young and really enjoying watching Andre Agassi. In fact Andy had the denim shorts with the pink lycra that came out underneath them!
‘He even had a cap that had a fake ponytail at the back of it. He absolutely loved it because Agassi was his absolute idol. And if you watch how Andy played, it’s not dissimilar to how Agassi played. So role models can be a huge influence.
‘Tim Henman was also a big influence on both the boys. When they were 11 and 12, they won a competition and got a chance to go to Queen’s club and be part of a big day that Henman was at. ‘Tim had just a quick word with them. He was the British No1 at the time and now he’s a great friend and has been a great advisor to both of them through their careers. It’s interesting looking back on that because I can see the impact that it had … You can’t underestimate the effect either an event or a person can have on a young player.’
Judy Murray is talking to the Mail l on Sunday at an HSBC ‘Road to Wimbledon’ tournament in West Worthing, Sussex. The initiative sees children progress via clubs and regional heats to win an ‘immersive’ ive’ experience at Wimbledon mbledon during the championships.
‘I’m a huge believer in giving kids the opportunity of getting closer to the big action and the big players,’ says Judy.
‘The closer you can get them, the more chance you have of them believing they can get there themselves one day — and that Wimbledon isn’t just something you see on the television.
‘We also have to get more children enjoying competition. Nowadays children do a lot of competing on tablets, playing against a computer. And they learn to win and lose in private.
‘[To change that] competition has to be fun, it has to be challenging, it has to be stimulating and we need more of this kind of thing to bring more children into enjoying the competitive side of tennis.’
Andy and Jamie Murray both played sports other than tennis to a decent level. Andy might have been a footballer but focused on tennis from 14, while Jamie was a three-handicap golfer. ‘When they were very young they did pretty much every sport under the sun,’ says Judy. ‘They loved WWF. Andy loved The Rock and Jamie loved Stone Cold Steve Austin. So they used to create their own WWF bouts. They’d make belts out of cardboard with paint and glitter.
‘I remember one night hearing a lot of noise from the bedroom, banging and clattering. I went upstairs to see what they were doing and they said, “We’re having a ladder fight for this belt”.
‘And they’d made this belt and it was lying beside their two duvets on the floor — that was their ring. And they had to wrestle each other and one had to pin the other and count to three. And once you’ve counted to three, you run up a ladder and you ring a bell.
‘That’s what they’d seen on the television — this drama. And what they had was two duvets, a stepladder and a lampshade to smack after a pin-down. And this was them recreating wha what they’d seen simply on te television — the impa impact of seeing events up close is even greater.’
Murray Snr says that Andy in particular was ultra competitive from his most tender years, ‘probably because he had an older brother who was bigger than him and better than him at everything they did’.
Early signs that Andy hated losing materialised during games of draughts and monopoly. ‘Any number of times he was playing and he realised that he wasn’t going to win, the board would be tipped up and the pieces would go flying everywhere,’ says Judy. ‘And Andy would storm off saying he wasn’t playing.
‘But he and Jamie were very good at creating their own games with each other and their own scoring systems. Andy’s still good at changing things, on court, to find a way to win.’
Judy Murray is an HSBC ambassador. HSBC is the Official Banking Partner of The Championships and is committed to supporting tennis from the back garden to Centre Court. Follow them on Twitter @HSBC_Sport