WIMBLEDON PROMISE A MURRAY STATUE
ANDY MURRAY will have a statue at the All England Club alongside that of Fred Perry to mark his historic achievements at Wimbledon. The 31-year-old Scot was due to play his first round of the Australian Open this morning against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, with him billing it as potentially his last competitive outing. But regardless of the outcome, Murray’s two singles titles at SW19 are expected to be marked by some permanent remembrance, just as Perry is honoured with a statue outside Centre Court. ‘I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,’ Wimbledon’s chief executive Richard Lewis told the BBC. ‘I am sure something like that will be done. We always felt when Andy retired it would be the appropriate time to recognise his extraordinary career. ‘At the club he is a highly respected person both on and off the court. We are
very fond of him and he is a great person to have around the club.’ Murray was facing the No 23 seed buoyed by a tide of goodwill, notably from Amelie Mauresmo, the former women’s Wimbledon champion whom he took on as his coach in the early summer of 2014. ‘He is a champion reaching beyond his sport, especially by taking steps forward on the gender equality topic,’ she told French publication L’Equipe. While they did not win a Grand Slam in their two-year spell together — and it was not his most bountiful period by his high standards — she insisted that their partnership was purely about trying to win trophies and not to make a gesture. ‘(Being his coach) was not a PR thing. It was a profound conviction he had from his education, his openmindedness,’ she said. ‘He is not afraid of his own sensitiveness, on the contrary. To me, he has been undervalued as a man, not as a tennis player.’ Novak Djokovic denied that he had tried to spare Murray any public humiliation by going easy on him when they met in a practice match last Thursday, an encounter which seemed to convince the Scot that he had reached the end of the road with his chronic hip problems. ‘I wasn’t, no, to be honest,’ said Djokovic. ‘But I did see, and you didn’t need to be on court to notice that he’s struggling, that he’s not moving as well as he normally does. ‘It’s really hard to see him going through those emotions, as well, on the court and off the court. He touched us all. I definitely wish him a painless future in whatever shape or form that is, on or off the court.’ Djokovic, who beat Murray four times in Australian Open finals, added: ‘I will carry beautiful memories from the court and off the court, as well, with him included. ‘It’s just sad. As someone that has been through a major injury myself recently, I can probably relate a little bit to what he’s going through.’