Mourinho inspired by comeback Scot

JOSE MOURINHO took time out from his current job search to watch his second favourite sport yesterday, casting an eye over Andy Murray’s training session as the Scot prepared for his Fever-Tree Championships doubles quarter-final.

‘I try to come most years but wasn’t able to until now, but this is a good moment, because Andy plays,’ said the currently resting football manager, who lives nearby in Chelsea.

‘It’s nice for a sportsman like him in a special moment of his career to know that the ones that always supported him in the big moments, we also support him in these moments where he is showing what a man he is.

‘I watched his training session, spoke with his coach and his fitness coach, trying to understand the processes he has gone through (to get back on court after surgery).

‘It was hard. It is still hard. With his age, with everything he has already won, he needs to be really special, in love with the game and ready to make the effort he is making to be back. That’s fantastic and if he can evolve to play singles again at the highest level, that would be amazing.’

Mourinho admitted he became emotional when Murray first won Wimbledon, and has been a fairly regular visitor to his matches, not unlike Sir Alex Ferguson.

‘I shed tears when Murray won Wimbledon because, for these boys, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, are like the Champions League for us,’ he said. ‘We know what we feel when we do it. We know what we feel when we almost do it and so I could imagine what it meant for him.

‘It’s not just Wimbledon. It’s the meaning for the whole of the UK. I could imagine being in his skin, all the feelings that he went through.

‘I would love all footballers to cope with responsibilities the way these guys do it. In football, you can hide behind each other. In tennis, they can’t hide behind anyone.’