People love seeing the best athletes competing together so let’s celebrate it and use it to our advantageWhen my brother, Jamie, and I were growing up we lived very close to the local tennis courts in Dunblane. Given my mum played tennis to a reasonable standard and was also a coach, it was inevitable we would end up playing.My mum has great energy and has been a workaholic ever since we were young, often getting up at 4am to start her day. She’s a role model for me through her determination, work ethic, and drive to do what she wants to do. Even now she’s still travelling everywhere and teaching on the court, trying to bring tennis to the masses...
For many of the leading tennis players of this generation, maintaining their legacy has become a clear priority but the Murray family and Roger Federer are taking different pathsJamie Murray was in the middle of a meet-and-greet with Glaswegian school children this week when an STV journalist asked him if tennis in his country deserves better. Such questions seem to come up with increasing frequency as he and his brother Andy navigate the final years of their careers with no promising young players waiting in the wings. In Scotland, despite the money their success has generated, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) provides only £1m of grants from their £64.5m revenue. Murray sighed: “If you think about the Scottish players that...
Few would bet against Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafa Nadal triumphing again this year as thirtysomethings march onThe three names at the top of the betting for the men’s singles at Wimbledon this year are so familiar that they can almost be taken for granted. Between them, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal have won 14 of the 16 slam titles in SW19 since Lleyton Hewitt lifted the trophy in 2002 and their odds imply a 75% chance that one of them will make it 15 from 17. Or, to put it another way, the other 125 players in the main draw have a 25% chance of winning between them, versus three men with a combined age of...
Dream of becoming the Olympic tennis champion six days before his 39th birthday is what keeps the Swiss great goingRoger Federer did more than win his 100th Tour-level tournament when he handed the Greek prodigy Stefanos Tsitsipas (his conqueror in the fourth round of the Australian Open two months ago) a 6-4, 6-4 tennis lesson in the 69-minute final of the Dubai tournament. He encouraged hope among his followers that, five months shy of his 38th birthday, he can still deliver the thrills they crave.He was always more than a tennis player. For most of his 22 years as a professional Federer has been a messiah and rarely a naughty boy. He has been the shimmering image of near-perfection, on...
Murray’s views on equality and the women’s game have had huge impact, exemplified by his decision to hire a female coach in Amélie Mauresmo in 2014Once the empty feeling subsides and the lump at the back of his throat stops threatening to leap from his mouth, perhaps it will console Andy Murray to consider how much he means to people from all walks of life. Even at this early stage of the healing process, with the emotions swirling and his heart shattered as he contemplates how brutally his body has given up on him in the past two years, it might raise his spirits to know he is showered with affection not only for his achievements on a tennis court...