Misery for Murray as he battles for career
HE is well known for having a cool, almost indifferent demeanour.
But yesterday Andy Murray shocked fans with an emotional update about his ‘demoralising’ battle to regain his fitness and return to the sport ‘he loves’.
In an outpouring on social media, the 30-year-old also posted a picture of himself as a schoolboy because it reminded him of just wanting to play tennis.
He apologised to fans after failing to take to the court this season.
It comes after he withdrew from this month’s Brisbane International Tennis Tournament in Australia, as a result of an on-going hip injury.
Writing on Instagram, the British Number One posted the update alongside the picture of him wearing the uniform of his primary school at Dunblane in Perthshire.
He wrote: ‘I choose this pic as the little kid inside me just wants to play tennis and compete.
‘I genuinely miss it so much and I would give anything to be back out there. I didn’t realise until these last few months just how much I love this game.
‘Every time I wake up from sleeping or napping, I hope that it’s better and it’s quite demoralising when you get on the court and it’s not at the level you need it to be to compete at this level.’
He added: ‘I want to apologise for withdrawing at late notice and to everyone who wanted to come along to watch me play (or lose).’
The Olympic gold medallist, whose wife Kim gave birth to their second child in November, said he has worked ‘extremely hard’ to heal the injury to no avail and said he would consider surgery as a secondary option.
The injury caused Murray, now World Number 16, to crash out of last summer’s Wimbledon quarter final as he pursued his third victory in the tournament.
The injury followed several successful years for the Scot, who was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2016.
Murray has become known for his dour personality and often expressionless face during tournaments.
In 2016, he was caught by the BBC cameras berating his support staff with an expletive midway through the Wimbledon men’s final after his coach, Ivan Lendl, apparently went for a toilet break during a tie-break.
His grumpy demeanour even prevented him from being immortalised in Madame Tussauds waxwork museum that year.
According to a museum spokesman, the tennis ace was ‘simply not popular enough’ to be included, being passed over in favour of Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Kendall Jenner.
‘Just how much I love this game’