Defending Wimbledon champion and world number one Murray has been Great Britain’s greatest ever tennis player and will probably end his career as one of their best ever sportspersons.
Murray became the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, and enjoys tremendous support at The Championships from the home crowd. Here are ten things you probably would not know about him:
#1 Sport runs in his family
Andy Murray is not the only sportsperson in his family as his older brother Jamie is also a professional tennis player, who concentrates on Doubles, and is currently ranked fifth in the world.
A double Grand Slam winner, Jamie has also won a Mixed Doubles Grand Slam and partners his brother in Davis Cup matches for Britain.
However, it seems like both of them can attribute their interest in sports to their grandfather, Roy Erskine, who was a footballer and played for Hibernian FC in Scotland.
#2 Andre Agassi is his boyhood idol
The Scotsman looked up to legendary American tennis player Andre Agassi and considers him his idol. As a seven-year-old, he reportedly spent eight pounds on getting himself the Agassi ‘hot lava’ makeover, buying cut-off denim shorts, neon pink and purple shorts, and a baseball cap with a long, blonde ponytail clipped to the back.
In 2006, when he was given the chance to practice with his idol at Queen’s Club, Murray forgot his water bottle and said he had sweaty hands.
#3 Owns unique Olympic record
Andy Murray is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won two Olympic Gold medals, winning the singles titles at both the 2012 London Games as well as in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
He has also been instrumental in achieving glory for Great Britain, helping them win the Davis Cup in 2015. Murray won all his 11 matches on the way (eight in singles and three in doubles), as Britain won their first title since 1936.
#4 Survived the Dunblane massacre
Raised in Dunblane, Andy Murray has spoken about how he survived the tragic shooting at Dunblane Primary School, when gunman Thomas Hamilton opened fire, killing 16 children and one teacher, before shooting himself.
Murray has never really been very open to discussing the events of that day, but revealed that he took cover in a classroom.
#5 Could have been a footballer
The 30-year-old could have had an alternate career as a footballer. He confessed that he turned down an offer from Scottish club Glasgow Rangers to train with them at the age of 14 in order to concentrate on his tennis career.
Murray has stated how he knew he could be a tennis great if he dedicated himself to the sport and hence chose to abandon pursuing a career in football.
He is a supporter of Hibernian, primarily due to the fact that his grandfather played for them.
#6 Owner of a five-star hotel
Apart from his great performances on the court, Murray has shown good business acumen as well. He bought a Victorian mansion called Cromlix House in 2013 for £1.8 million, and transformed it into a 15-room five-star hotel.
The Scot probably liked what he saw when he visited the property in 2010, when he was the best man at his brother Jamie’s wedding, which took place at the same mansion.
#7 Picked up tennis very early
Murray was encouraged to start playing tennis at the age of three by his mother, Judy, who helped trigger his interest by taking him to the local courts.
He had started playing in competitive tournaments by the age of five and at eight, had started competing with adults in the Central District Tennis League.
#8 Born with a bipartite patella
Andy Murray was born with a bipartite patella in his right knee, a condition in which the bones in the knee cap remain separated instead of fusing into one in early childhood. The tennis great was not diagnosed till the age of 16, and admitted that he just has to live with the pain for the rest of his life.
Murray has been seen holding his right knee on many occasions on the court, and has sometimes pulled out of events to manage the pain. He has had to rely on pain-killing injections and pills to help him play despite the condition on many occasions.
#9 Loves ice-cream and used to eat Pizza before matches
The British player has confessed to being an ice-cream lover and has said that he sometimes eats up to four Feast ice-creams in a day when at home between tournaments and not during his preparations for Wimbledon.
Murray has been quoted as saying in his biography, “I can eat ice-cream from midday until I go to bed.”
He has also spoken about how at the beginning of his career he did not pay much attention to his diet, saying, “When I first played at Wimbledon I ate pizza before my matches and was staying in someone’s basement, so I’ve come a pretty long way.”
#10 Knighthood
Sir Andy Murray, as he is officially known now, was knighted by the British Empire after a sensational year in 2016 on the court, when he won Wimbledon, the Olympic Gold medal and ended the year as the world number one.
The Scot was hesitant in accepting the award initially, as he was afraid it would affect his career, but after conferring with his mother and wife, he accepted the knighthood.
0 votes
