He’s one of the greatest British sporting stories ever
IREMEMBER first hearing of Andy Murray around 15 years ago. There was a buzz around him, but you tended to get that with a young player in Britain every few years. People always looked at where the next potential top-100 player was coming from. They said Andy was going to be good but I had heard it before.
British tennis has butchered so many of our top players with the system messing them up. Andy was determined, though, and I saw him play for the first time at Queen’s in 2005. He had the hands, the feel. You could see he was going to be a very good player, but there is such a big leap to get to the top-50.
I could see there was something special when I started working with him in 2006 during my time as Davis Cup captain.
There are a lot of players out there who hit the ball well but are a bit one dimensional. Andy always had options when he played and an instinct for knowing what to do when he was in trouble. But even then, when he was being coached by Brad Gilbert, the mental side was stopping him from winning Grand Slams. That all changed when Ivan Lendl came on board.
To now go on to reach No 1 is a remarkable achievement. The computerised rankings started when I was playing in 1973, but I never thought I would see a British player at the top. We never had enough depth. When you look at the opposition he has gone up against, to be the best player on this planet is amazing.
This has got to be up there with the greatest British sporting stories. I appreciate what the great football and rugby players have done but they are team sports. In tennis it is all on you. The build-up to Andy finally winning a Grand Slam is the most intense pressure you can have in sport. He had fallen at the final hurdle so many times. To get through that and then become No 1 is special.
In terms of Grand Slams, Andy is still behind the greats with a total of three, but I do believe that he has another three or four in him, then he starts nudging people like Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors. I see no reason why he cannot remain at No 1 for a long period. He is certainly not going to be satisfied with what he has done now. Carlos Moya and Mats Wilander may have lost their motivation because they had reached the top spot, but I don’t see Andy as that sort of person.
It does not matter if it’s a Wimbledon final or a game of tiddlywinks, he will never lose his competitiveness. That is the sort of bloke he is.