I’VE GOT TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS BECAUSE IT WON’T LAST FOREVER I drove home alone from Queen’s and felt emotional
ANDY MURRAY takes to the skies in a helicopter with our man MIKE DICKSON
EXACTLY 24 hours after he held aloft the giant Aegon Championships trophy at Queen’s, Andy Murray swings in through the gates of his local sports club. A helicopter has not long landed on the outfield of the cricket ground, momentarily disturbing the peace in this corner of Surrey’s footballer belt. Play briefly stops on the bowling green and a few players cast a curious eye.
Murray, arriving unaccompanied at the wheel of his relatively modest Volkswagen Golf, is about to be whisked away to the City to do a photo-shoot for his clothing sponsor Under Armour on top of one of the towers in Canary Wharf.
After winning at Queen’s on Sunday he drove home alone in the evening, enjoying the solitude and the time to reflect. The following morning was spent doing nothing more strenuous than playing snooker with friends at the All England Club and now it is back to work, after a fashion, because this has been designated his one non-tennis day in Wimbledon’s build-up.
He poses patiently for pictures with a few onlookers and then we walk over to the pristine chopper for the 15-minute flight. It is a windy afternoon and, after lurching skywards in the buffeting gusts, stories are swapped about journeys by helicopter.
Murray has known less comfortable ones. ‘I once went up to watch Manchester United play in the Champions League and just after take-off realised I needed to answer a call of nature. Obviously there was nowhere to go — it turned out to be 50 minutes of agony,’ he smiles.
It might have felt even longer than that incredible last game of Wimbledon 2013, when he finally held off the ferocious lastditch challenge from Novak Djokovic.
After heading skywards you might just be able to make out the All England Club, scene of his finest hour, and somewhere further in the distance is Queen’s. Not long after, the 02 Arena — completing the trinity of London’s major tennis venues — hoves into view.
Surely there must be times, basking in the afterglow of triumphs such as last Sunday’s, when you can just sit back and feel like the lord of what you survey?
‘I know this isn’t going to go on forever and I need to make the most of the time I have left,’ he replies. ‘Actually the times when I look back at what’s happened so far are times when I’m on my own, like when I was driving home from Queen’s.
‘These are the times I might think about it and be a bit more emotional, rather than when I’m sitting in the locker room afterwards or immediately after the match.
‘I actually drove home every day from there. Kim would have gone ahead, she had the dogs to walk and stuff to do. That’s when I have time to think.’
Increasingly with age, what he thinks about are landmarks like his 500th career win in Miami, achieved in early April. One day he might also consider the remarkable record of consistency at Grand Slams that he takes with him to the All England on Monday — 17 consecutive appearances in the quarter-finals or better, 13 of them to the last four or beyond.
It puts him in very lofty company, but the problem is you cannot achieve that by stopping to smell the roses or, on this particular day, looking at the view.
A rare pause in Murray’s life came on April 11 when he married Kim at Dunblane Cathedral. From the accounts of those who were there it was a classy, non-showbiz affair that managed to involve the locals as well as their close friends, going on until the sun came up.
But even on that day the tennis did not entirely stop. By way of illustrating Murray’s relentless attention to detail, Alex Corretja — the Spaniard who used to coach him — tells of how they briefly discussed business during the reception. The subject was his practice block in Barcelona the following week that he was helping to arrange.
Unromantic notion though it is, his surge in form since his wedding may be as much connected more to the excellent preparation he had in Spain as the transformative effects of marriage. Good scheduling, proving people wrong about his hiring of Amelie Mauresmo and extra confidence in his body post-surgery are other factors.
Murray loved his wedding day, but thinks that is just part of an overall healthier picture from this time a year ago.
‘I felt originally like marriage for me wasn’t a huge change. I would think having children is much more of a life-changer but, when we got married, I could see all our friends and family in one room. When you think about it, that had never happened before and it might not ever happen again,’ says Murray, who threads his wedding ring through his shoelaces because he found wearing it on a necklace irritating.
‘I remembered all the people who have helped me along the way. It was an important day for me and it had an effect, I did feel a bit different afterwards. It hasn’t harmed my results. It was emotional, and Kim was really happy with it, seeing everybody there. It was very special for us both.
‘I do think your personal life has an impact on your tennis. If your private life is up and down and you’re thinking about what is going on back home then you aren’t solely focused on your job, but when things are good back home it’s so much easier when you’re on court. It’s not necessarily marriage, it’s more having a stable relationship.’
Another guest at the wedding was young British player Kyle Edmund, from Yorkshire. At the French Open last month, instead of going home after his own match, Murray walked out to watch Edmund on an outside court, late in the evening, sitting in the public seats to cheer him on.
That told you a lot about Murray’s generosity of character, and his commitment to British tennis. I remind him of the death stare he gave me when I asked, in Glasgow before March’s first-round Davis Cup tie
against America, if his controversial referendum tweet of last September might have affected that commitment.
The next three days were to give the answer, similarly emphatic to the one you get now.
‘It’s about your actions, it doesn’t matter what I say but you could see how I performed on the court how much playing for Great Britain means to me. Actions always speak louder than words. You can see how someone is on the court, how they are around the team, whether they care.
‘You ask the team how much I care. I follow all of our British players year round playing in Challenger events. I went to watch Kyle in Paris because I care about British tennis and I’ve been representing GB since I was 10 years old, so it’s a no-brainer.
‘It wasn’t just that Kyle was in a close match, it was me remembering what it was like trying to win your first Grand Slam match, it’s a huge moment.
‘Kyle is quite a quiet guy, I thought having me and my team there would help. I was really happy for him.’
Murray’s tweet — suggesting support for independence — might have proved something of a public relations disaster. However, it was, notable at Queen’s that support from the tennis constituency remained undiluted.
That is just as well, as the Davis Cup quarter-final against France immediately after Wimbledon will probably mean this being the most mentally taxing three weeks of his career. It is a long time to carry the hopes of a nation in one sport squarely on your own shoulders.
After landing at the Isle of Dogs heliport, he is welcomed by friendly hollers from a couple of men in the overlooking flats, sitting out on a balcony adorned with a Chelsea flag.
Spirited to One Canada Square’s marble halls en route to his spectacular photo-shoot on the roof, he breaks off talking to point out the spot from where he watched Kim run in the London marathon.
After that he wants to discuss possible selection permutations for both teams in the Davis Cup.
This is the kind of chat that Murray relishes. While curious about the world, he is first and last a tennis player, not a politician, national icon or spokesman for equal rights, or any of the other mantles that have been thrust upon him over the past year. It is the pure love of the game and its irresistible geometry that will get him through the stresses of the next few weeks, as so much of the nation comes to a standstill around teatime.
‘Wimbledon does feel a bit more like my home court these days. I feel a lot more relaxed when I go back there than when I was younger. I train there a lot and I’ve played so many matches on Centre Court it’s very familiar. I still get nervous at the start.
‘I don’t think that thinking of how many people are watching in Britain would be very helpful. I’m aware of people in the crowd, but not so much people back at home. I sometimes think of people on the hill. Around the world hundreds of millions of people watch the matches, so if you thought too much it might do your head in.’
Under Armour is powering Andy Murray to the next level. For more information, visit www.underarmour.com