A force off the court as well as on it
Murray’s achievements mean the first name anyone associates with Dunblane is no longer a mass murderer.
Despite being worth £83million, Murray has promised not to be a tax exile, saying: “I like living at home.”
To his wife’s disgust, he drives a nine-year-old VW Polo. He did buy a Ferrari but it made him feel “like a prat”.
Murray’s mother, Judy, still lives in Dunblane. Her influence on her son is hard to overstate. Having been a keen player in her youth, she had Andy and his brother Jamie battering balloons over the sofa before they went to school. Junior tournament in Birmingham? Judy drove the minibus, kept their spirits up before they went on court and bought them McDonalds on the way home.
So many of the skills that made Murray invincible on court were learned within the family. His first opponent was Jamie, 18 months older and now a frequent Grand Slam doubles champion.
When Murray began working with Amelie Mauresmo in 2014, some peers were horrified he would take advice from a woman.
“I don’t really care whether the other male players like it or not,” he said at the time. “I’ve always had a strong female influence in my career.”
Murray says that the monstering of Mauresmo turned him into a feminist but it’s hard not to see a connection between his early years and his support for women in the game. Pity help any interviewer who bandies statistics that don’t take women into account. This happened to the BBC’s John Inverdale when he congratulated Murray on winning his second Olympic gold medals. He pointed out that Venus and Serena Williams have four each.
Judy is as proud of this as she is of any of her son’s trophies. She retweets her son’s takedowns of sexism with the love heart emoji.
So what will Murray do next? Tennis legend Billie Jean King is predicting great things. She tweeted: “Your greatest impact on the world may be yet to come. Your voice for equality will inspire future generations.”
Over to you, Andy. BY KIRSTY McKENZIE AFTER ending the 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon, Andy Murray will go down in history books as one of the world’s greatest athletes and a national hero.
But it’s not just his sporting achievements that have grabbed headlines over the years.
Andy has earned a reputation for entertaining with his dry wit – after first emerging in the public eye as a grumpy teen all those years ago.
Here are some of Andy ’s greatest hits off the court. It’s no secret that the Murrays are a close-knit family, which is why it’s so popular when proud mum Judy shares pictures of them at Christmas time. Many fans’ all-time favourite remains a cheery pic of Andy on Christmas day – in which he mocks his own reputation for being boring. Just like the pattern on his jumper, though, Andy has fire in his belly. Holding auditions for Andy Murray: The Movie, which was made in support of a cancer charity, the Scot took delight in telling Tim Henman he was in contention for the lead role.
Andy then explains it’s because of his “flat and unengaging” speech – but Tim, who failed to make it past the semi-finals at Wimbledon throughout his career, wasn’t too upset, saying: “I’ve never made it to the final two.” Revealing himself to be a true Scotland fan, Andy famously pulled the leg of an English sports journalist who asked him who he would support at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He replied sarcastically: “Anyone but England,” and later joked that he is “only British when he wins”.