“In this scenario I’d want Jamie to win because doubles is his thing” But Judy Murray is dreading a brother v brother clash
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Saturday Interview Judy Murray Prospect of sons Andy and Jamie clashing on grass this summer is worrying their mum. Scotland’s continued failure to build on the pair’s legacy is also a big concern for someone whose ideas are in great demand overseas
ON ANDY V JAMIE AT QUEEN’S
“I’m praying it doesn’t happen. For a parent your kids competing against each other is the hardest thing. If it happens I might not even watch. It will just
be too stressful”
When Judy Murray’s phone beeps, then to anyone mismanaging the sport she loves who happens to be within earshot, it must sound deeply foreboding – a bit like the crack of doom.
Oh no, the mismanagers must think, she’ll soon be on the warpath again. We’re not doing enough for tennis and she’s raging. Just the other day, a photo was tweeted of public courts in Dundee. Only there was a bus plonked right in the middle. When some wag quipped that this was the wrong type of coach to be there Judy responded with a chuckling emoji. But of course she was angry. “Awful,” she tweeted. “Come on Dundee Council. Wimbledon and the summer holidays are coming. Get some activity on them.”
This made the papers, with the local authority forced into an explanation. The courts had been used for buses during resurfacing of a car park, they admitted, but this had only been a temporary measure. Other courts without municipal charabancs making volleying difficult were available nearby.
My guess is that Dundee Council won’t do this again. They’ve been well and truly telt. But right now, in the Cromlix Hotel with her phone turned to silent, Judy has other concerns. They’re the concerns of many parents at this time of year as schools stage their sports days. Your tenacious little competitor is desperate to win and there will be tears if he or she loses. Imagine being the mum or dad of twins competing in the same race – that would be fraught. But imagine being Judy at Queen’s next week with Andy on one side of the net and big brother Jamie on the other.
This could happen. Andy has almost predicted it will. As part of his comeback from the prolonged and excruciating injury traumas which at the start of this year seemed to have ended his career, he will play in the men’s doubles – Jamie’s speciality event. “It’s bound to end up happening I’d imagine,” he said the other day. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was how the draw came out.” Andy added: “If I played him I’d definitely be trying to win of course.”
“Don’t!” groans Judy when I mention the possibility of a Murray match-up. “I’m praying it doesn’t happen. I think for a parent your kids competing against each other is the hardest thing. If it happens I might not even watch.
“I think in this kind of scenario I’d always want Jamie to win because doubles is his thing. But Andy could just breeze right in there. He’s very liable to do just that. He’d be instinctive in doubles, not traditional
and very difficult to play against. So no: I’m really hoping it doesn’t happen. It will just be too stressful.”
The Cromlix is Andy’s hotel. Close to the home town of Dunblane, it was purchased by the three-times Grand Slammer in 2013 and has since claimed awards of its own. It’s busy this lunchtime and your correspondent is happy to swerve the modest office jalopy into the passing places on the long drive up to the front door to let the Rollsroyces through. Murray and I talk in the lounge at what is an interesting juncture in her life.
In September she will be 60. Another milestone is reached this year: three decades of dedicated service to tennis spent coaching, championing, fighting its corner and generally being mum to the game in Scotland.
The birthday will be celebrated with old girlfriends, some from tennis and also university. Each will pick an “experience” for the group and a trip to see the Northern Lights is already booked. Murray may choose a cookery course in Tuscany – or Auschwitz. “I’ve been fascinated by it ever since school.” Well, she doesn’t shy away from very much.
And those 30 years, how will she mark them? In America, at the invitation of the great Billie Jean King, helping to grow tennis there. What, are we about to lose Judy? She doesn’t want me to say that because it’s not the case. But there’s no doubt the rest of the tennis world is noticing the good work she does here and wondering what she could do for them.
King, the winner of 39 Slam titles who’s become a good friend, has asked Murray out to Philadelphia when the World Team tennis season begins right after wimbledon. She says: “I’m going to be involved in the community programme, working in disadvantaged areas of the city and running come-and-try sessions and clinics. This completely plays to my strengths.”
These are strengths from which Scotland, the improbable, soggy, gouged home of the fantastic Murray tennis dynasty, has benefited hugely in the wake of Andy and Jamie’s Slam titles and world No 1 status. Their irrepressible, indomitable mother has crusaded and drove the battlebus and inquired “Anyone for tennis?” in some of the unlikeliest corners of the improbable land.
She’s also lobbied and crusaded and shouted “Legacy!” until turning blue in the face. That can be exhausting – even for the indomitable. Here’s one you might have heard before: between 2006 when Andy lifted his first ATP title and 2016, the period when the brothers enjoyed their greatest triumphs and were top-ranked, no indoor courts open to the public were built in Scotland. Murray admits: “I understand if you are constantly banging the drum on the same theme that some people will get fed up listening.”
Most recently she banged it at the Scottish Parliament, insisting that if Andy and