The vitriolic reaction by some to the Scot becoming world No1 reflects coarsening attitudes where support for one side entails denigration of an opponentIf Donald Trump had been a tennis player, he would have been Jimmy Connors. Brash, bombastic, bullying, bludgeoning anything in his way, swollen with entitlement, constantly grabbing his crotch to assert his manhood. If there had been such a thing as Twitter in the 1970s, Connors would have set it on fire. I hated him.Well, I suppose I didn’t hate him, exactly. But I certainly very badly wanted Arthur Ashe to beat him on 5 July 1975, in the final of the Wimbledon men’s singles. In fact I wanted Ashe to humiliate him in the way that,...
It is a towering achievement that the world No1 is essentially no different to the tennis player the game first became aware of over a decade agoPick up any dictionary and check the definition of honesty. There will be references to integrity, loyalty, candour, right-mindedness, authenticity. All of these describe the Andy Murray I have come to know and, without wishing to confer sainthood on the poor man, the best tennis player these islands have had – and the freshly crowned No1 in the world – would still seem to be incapable of telling a lie. Related: Andy Murray celebrates No1 status with Paris win and earns everyone’s respect Mission accomplished. #1 pic.twitter.com/XymlcS2AjyPerhaps the key to his success in the...
Andy Murray is behind the extraordinary trinity of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic but better than many other former No1s and is arguably the best athlete Britain has produced in the past decadeThree years ago in New York, where Andy Murray was defending the first of his three grand slam titles, the Association of Tennis Professionals organised a gala dinner for the 25 players who had topped their rankings since 1973. Murray was not among them.Now, after reaching the final of the Paris Masters thanks to the withdrawal through injury of Milos Raonic here on Saturday that secured him the 235 points he needed to pass Novak Djokovic as world No1, he is moving in their exalted company....
From Jeff Tarango’s unforgettable outburst at SW19 to Andy Roddick’s laser-guided vitriol at the 2008 Australian Open, half a dozen meltdownsThe eight-times grand slam winner had already got people talking at Flushing Meadows before his fourth-round match with the top-10 ranked Aaron Krickstein. That an ageing Connors had gone so far as a wildcard was a truly remarkable feat in itself. He was the world No174 going into the tournament; a brief cameo was about as much as anyone expected. Related: Pablo Cuevas in wee bit of bother during Wimbledon doubles defeat Related: Wimbledon 2007: The day Tarango walked Related: Serena Williams tarnishes her legacy with abuse of US Open umpire | Kevin Mitchell Related: Australian Open 2013: Jerzy Janowicz...
The battle to be world No1 has developed a spiritual dimension as Djokovic brings in a new-age guru to help reverse his recent slump in form in ParisRarely have the strengths and frailties of modern athletes been so cruelly exposed as in the major tennis stadiums of the world over the past decade or so. In Paris this week, we will witness the tensile limits of two of the game’s most enduring men of steel, as Andy Murray seeks to unseat Novak Djokovic as the best player in the world.If Murray wins the Paris Masters final and Djokovic does not get out of the semi-finals, the prize will swing from Belgrade to Dunblane, an achievement before the ATP World Tour...