Oh I say, they all love Andy now
LIKE the first cuckoo heralding the start of spring, the arrival of ads for Robinsons Barley Water on the television used to be a sure sign that Wimbledon was on its way. Even Scots, wed to the necks of Irn Bru bottles like bairns to the nipple, wondered, just for a moment, if they should go with the flow and switch to something else. It only lasted a fortnight after all.
Ah, innocent times. Today, Wimbledon can be heard approaching with all the subtlety of a Boeing 747 coming in to land. Now a global sporting event on a par with the Champions League final, Super Bowl Sunday, and The Open, Wimbers is one of the coolest shows in town, a far cry from the little event that first opened up shop in 1877.
As the first matches approach, Wimbledon can be found as much on the news pages as in the sport sections. This year has not disappointed. Heather Watson, Britain’s number three, has hit at critics who expect female athletes to wear make-up and look glamorous on court while they go about the business of winning; Judy Murray, meanwhile, told the Radio Times that female players should bang on about the Kardashians and fashion if they want to engage with a female audience; and John McEnroe, bless him, incurred the (polite) wrath of the legendary Serena Williams by saying she would only rank 700 in the men’s game. “Respect me and my privacy as I am trying to have a baby. referendum. On the day of the vote he tweeted: “Huge day for Scotland today no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this!” Once again, his critics came out in force,and they weren’t just slating his punctuation (some whippersnapper has just told me there is no punctuation on Twitter. Well there should be, okay?)
Everything changed, of course, after he won Wimbledon. In timehonoured fashion, victory turned Murray from Scottish to British overnight. The lad himself has never had a problem being both things at once, proud of his home country and chuffed to play for Great Britain in the Davis Cup.
The Wimbledon victory made it official, however. Murray, one of us in Scotland, something of a citizen of the world given his early years training in Spain and his international travel on the circuit, was now accepted by Middle England as one of them, too.
How will he fare this year, though, if he fails to match Fred Perry’s three Wimbledon wins? No matter that he has already surpassed Perry’s record in reaching grand slam finals. Where Murray is involved, it seems there is always another hurdle to cross. Then again, he is at his best when he is on the back foot, with everything to fight for. Who knows, all those years of being the underdog may have been the best thing for him. How very Scottish of you, Andy.