Murray ‘may not play much longer’
● Tennis coach fears star may have to quit before her academy is built
Andy Murray’s mother says she is worried he is not going to be playing professionally “for much longer”.
Judy Murray has said he may quit before she is able to open a tennis academy near her hometown of Dunblane. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the tennis coach also said it was “gobsmacking” that the country had failed to capitalise on the success of Andy and his brother Jamie.
Andy Murray’s mother has admitted she is worried he is not going to be playing professionally “for much longer”.
Judy Murray has opened up on her fears that he may have quit before her dreams of opening a world-class tennis academy near her hometown of Dunblane are realised.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the tennis coach warned it would take around two years to build the complex if it ever gets the green light.
She said it was “gobsmacking” that the country had failed to capitalise on the success of Andy and his brother Jamie, who have won seven Grand Slam titles between them over the past decade.
Andy Murray insisted in the spring that he wanted to keep playing “as long as I can”.
He said: “I don’t want to stop
“There has been plenty of time to start to build a legacy and capitalise and it’s just not been done”
JUDY MURRAY
in two years. I want to keep playing. Who knows where I am going to be in a few years?”
However the 30-year-old has been dogged by injury this year and crashed out of Wimbledon in the quarter-finals.
Councillors in Stirling rejected the proposed £37.5 million Park of Keir facility in December 2015 after more than 1,000 objections were lodged. The Scottish Government later “called in” the project for an inquiry.
Earmarked for green belt land between Dunblane and Bridge of Alan, the project would see the creation of six indoor and six outdoor tennis courts, golfing facilities, a hotel and spa, and 19 luxury homes.
Mrs Murray said: “The thing that worries me now is that Andy may not play for much longer. He has been around for 12 years playing at the top of the game.
“There has been plenty of time to start to build a legacy and capitalise and it’s just not been done. If you’re going to build a base somewhere, which is what I’m trying to do, it is going to take two years to build. By the time it is built he could have stopped playing.
“My plan for a multi-sports hub has been with the government for nearly a year. It’s disappointing it has taken so long. I don’t know why it has. We want to sell 19 house plots to fund the sports facilities. It is largely two fields at the side of a motorway. They’re on green belt, but it’s not a beauty spot.
“I want a base I can work out of so I can share the 25 years of everything I’ve learned with others and so leave the sport in good hands. There’s no point in me taking it with me.”