THE RISE OF SIR ANDY, A GREAT BRIT FOR US ALL
How world No1 Murray won the people’s hearts
Sir Sean Connery was on the radio and, possibly fuelled by the odd glass of Pimm’s, was adamant: British tennis must support Andy Murray.
it was a Saturday in 2005 and the then 18-year-old Murray had taken the high-class Argentinian player David Nalbandian to five sets in Wimbledon’s third round before succumbing, exhausted.
This may have been the first time he came to the attention of a mainstream British audience never quite sated by the frequent nearmisses of Tim Henman.
Now, more than 11 years on, Murray joins the former James Bond and his fellow Scot as a knight of the realm after a quite extraordinary sporting journey.
His accolade speaks of a twofold victory: not only the sheer, bloodyminded perseverance which has finally seen him evolve into the world’s best player, but the parallel slog which has seen him win the hearts and minds of the public.
The road has been strewn with more potholes than a Highland goat track. He has had to fight his way through the triumvirate who have exercised remarkable dominance through his 20s: roger Federer, rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
And he has had to go through a very public maturing process, trying to steer his way through a Pr maze for which he was not naturally well-equipped given his somewhat dour exterior and tendency to speak his mind.
The ‘Sir Andy’ tag may not sit that comfortably. We live in an age when conferring honours on sportspeople is insisted upon before they have wound up their careers, and he would doubtless have been quite happy to wait.
Above all, Murray is a seeker not of awards or accolades but of knowledge pertaining to things he cares about.
Mostly this has related to tennis, the most important thing in his life prior to the birth of his daughter. it is what led him to employing ivan Lendl and Amelie Mauresmo as coaches, perhaps the two most innovative appointments in their field in the recent history of tennis.
Certainly the hiring of Lendl in late 2011 is a significant factor why someone who initially struggled for public approval has now become a knight, and three-times Sports Personality of the Year.
if we go back to 2005 the first part of the process was, simply enough, getting fit enough for purpose.
in Murray’s first four five-set defeats at Grand Slam events he lost the deciding sets 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1. He lacked stamina and so set about becoming the uberathlete he is now, beginning to work with monastic devotion under renowned coach Brad Gilbert (funded by the LTA as part of the large support package from the governing body he enjoyed, contrary to myth).
That helped power him to world No 2 as far back as 2009, but still he could not beat his major rivals when it most mattered.
A lack of understanding of what he was up against had not been assuaged by the odd Pr gaffe. He has never much enjoyed set-piece media appearances, rarely giving glimpses of a natural smile which, when offered, goes all the way to his eyes. in 2006, giving a joint interview with Henman, he made his ‘anyone but England’ joke in response to his friend’s playful provocation. The hostile reaction bewildered him.
Two years later he released an autobiography with the ill-advised title Hitting Back, perhaps the punchiest label a youthful sportsman has ever come up with for such a tome.
The turning point in all things came in 2012 after he lost the Wimbledon final to Federer, unlucky that the Centre Court roof closed when he was in the ascendancy.
His heart-rending tears during the on-court interview with Sue Barker caused many to reassess their view. A curiously British reaction.
That was quickly followed by gold at the London Olympics, when he was swept along by the feelgood factor and beat Federer in the final. His support level was so fervent that this time it was the Swiss darling of the arena who was left bewildered.
And then came the US Open final win to cap the summer. By now it was becoming the stuff of a Hollywood script: survivor of an appalling massacre at his school (Dunblane) emerges from sporting backwater, hires nuggety coach with no previous experience who had struggled to win a first Grand Slam tournament himself, and suddenly he emulates Fred Perry.
That success was compounded in 2013 with victory in the Wimbledon final over Djokovic. it was secured with an epic final game — in which the Serb fought back from 0-40 down — that represented one of the most stomach-churning passages of play of any sport ever played in this country. The TV audience was more than 17 million.
Murray’s progress was halted by back surgery, and Lendl’s departure in 2014, a year in which his popularity slipped back. Big wins were hard to come by and, away from the court, Murray upset many on both sides of the border with his last-ditch implication of support for the Yes campaign in the Scottish referendum.
He has never fully explained his views on this and his early-hours tweet ran contrary to what he had previously hinted on the matter. it re-awoke suspicions that he might somehow be anti-English.
The evidence for this is scant, to say the least, for one who has long lived in Surrey and whose wife is English, along with most of his close friends and support team. The honours committee are also sure to have taken account of him paying his taxes in the UK.
What is clear is that Murray, who was surprisingly beaten for the first time by David Goffin in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi yesterday, has always stated his pride in representing Great Britain. That was never more evident than when leading the GB team to an unlikely triumph in the Davis Cup, a campaign in which he went unbeaten.
Once a sporadic participant because he felt the need to prioritise his individual development, his commitment to the team competition has underpinned his popularity. indeed, one of his most endearing features has been his selfless support for other, far lesser British players, highly unusual in a sport that requires selfish dedication.
A favourite personal memory of him from this year came not at Wimbledon or the Olympics, but during the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. Sitting on a deserted outside court on an unseasonably cold evening watching Dan Evans in the opening round, this hooded figure shuffled into the stands a few seats down from me. it was the then world No 2, who proceeded to give his vociferous support.
it was arguably the Davis Cup triumph that has led us to Peak Murray this year, as others have also had career-best seasons after winning the team competition.
Nine titles, an Olympic gold and second Wimbledon title culminated with him securing the year-end world No 1 position in the very last match of the regular season.
The feared triumvirate finally waned, while his level of play went in the opposite direction.
There were other notable cameos. These included him criticising his own racket sponsor for supporting Maria Sharapova over her doping conviction and spending the weekend after Wimbledon in Belgrade as a non-playing supporter of his Davis Cup colleagues against Serbia.
if there is an aspect of him that continues to rile people it is his often stroppy and petulant on-court demeanour, which has continued into his late 20s and is not attractive.
He also remains remarkably unbothered, for one of his profile, by his personal appearance.
Yet this is in line with him refusing to play the game — an unspoiled, uncorporate figure in a sporting landscape where being antiseptic is often the easiest (and most lucrative) route to take.
He has refused to yield to the competition and all the setbacks, and remained true to himself.
The latest sporting knight of the realm is a true British original.
Heart-rending tears in 2012 caused many to re-assess He has shown such support for lesser British players