Andy Murray: Scotland's Greatest Sportsman #AndyMurray

The Scotsman

The Scotsman sports editor gives his view on Andy Murray as the tennis champion ends his career at the Paris Olympics

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman Bulletin this Friday. It's a bit of a sport takeover

00:11today because I'm here as a sport editor to talk about Andy Murray. It's the day after

00:17the night before. Andy Murray is officially retired after he bowed out of professional

00:22tennis 21 years. He's been an active player and it all ended in Paris on Thursday night

00:28where he lost in the men's doubles alongside Dan Evans to the American duo Taylor Fritz

00:33and Tommy Paul. As somebody who has watched pretty much all of Andy Murray's career growing

00:39up experiencing the highs and lows, it was a very poignant and emotional moment. Andy

00:44Murray, in my opinion, is Scotland's greatest ever sportsperson and I'd be fascinated to

00:50hear anybody who would like to put someone up against him. He's been a wonderful ambassador

00:56for not just tennis but Scotland, Great Britain and sports people as a whole, not just with

01:03his performances on the court, three Grand Slam titles, three Olympic medals, 46 singles

01:10titles, 1,001 pro victories. That speaks for itself but also the way Murray has carried

01:15himself as a person, as an ambassador, the way that he's campaigned for equality with

01:21women's sports, the way that he has carried the hopes of a nation sometimes under extreme

01:27pressure from the British public. Remember, before he won Wimbledon for the first time

01:31around he had to live with the fact that Britain hadn't had a men's winner for, well, pushing

01:37on 75, 76, 77 years when he finally won it. So to be able to perform at that level and

01:45show class and dignity throughout his time, hugely impressive. I'm always asked what are

01:51my favourite memories of Andy Murray and you could always look at the way that he won his

01:56slams, the big victories, whether it was at Wimbledon or the US Open or across numerous

02:03tournaments across the tennis world. As I wrote in today's book, my best memory was actually from

02:08last year where he played a monstrous match against Tanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open.

02:13It lasted for six hours, it ended at like half past five British time, that's sort of three,

02:17four in the morning back in Melbourne. He was two sets down and there was a point where he

02:21retrieved three smashes in a row when he was two sets and a break down. He only attempted to get

02:28back and then went on to win the game three hours later and it was an encapsulation of Murray. He

02:33never ever gave up, it didn't matter what situation he was faced with, he would find a way to fight it.

02:39It happened so often on the court against the big three, Roger Federer, Rafael Vidal, Novak Djokovic

02:45but also with fitness he had to deal with so many injuries, not least the really, really difficult

02:50hip resurfacing surgery that he had to go under in 2017 which essentially allowed him to compete

02:56for so long. It's quite remarkable that Murray actually was playing this year at 37 years old

03:02with so many injury issues, he just showed how much of a fighter he is. And you wonder what

03:08legacy does Andy Murray leave now? Certainly Scottish tennis fans will say that not enough

03:13has been done in this country to capitalise on what Murray has achieved. There's still no real

03:20sporting facility that pays homage to the fact that Murray has become the best Scottish sports

03:27person there is and it's a shame in some respects that Scotland hasn't really become a tennis

03:32country on the back of what's happened. You do see from time to time, especially around

03:36Wimbledon, we see interest on our stats, our figures on stories when Andy Murray is playing,

03:41there is so much interest there. But at the end of the day, he's had out the racket now and there's

03:45not really a tangible facility for people to go and play tennis and people to become even close

03:52to the next Andy Murray. We do have one young Scottish player, Jacob Fernley, who's emerged

03:57this summer but it's slim pickings really for a sport that still hasn't been able to cut through

04:02the monopoly of football and to a lesser extent rugby. And that I think does frustrate Andy Murray

04:07and also his family. Judy Murray has tried to get a facility constructed in the central belt and has

04:14encountered too many problems for that to happen. I don't want to dwell on that too much because

04:19it's negative energy on a man that has brought so much positivity to Scotland's sport. Andy Murray

04:26will be missed. We say he'll be missed. We're not going to be without Andy Murray. He will be,

04:33I'm sure, front and centre of media, especially in the summer months around Wimbledon. At Queen's,

04:38they've renamed the centre court the Andy Murray Arena and I'm sure he will crop up there as well.

04:44And I wouldn't put it past him to be a media consultant or perhaps even a coach. Who knows?

04:49I wonder if Andy Murray will adapt accordingly to life without being a tennis player. He has

04:55a young family who he's absolutely devoted to and he has spoken about giving time back to his wife

05:01Kim and the family given that he's spent so much time on the road in the past 20 odd years.

05:07It does feel though, a feeling of emptiness I suppose at the end because watching Andy Murray

05:12has been one of life's great privileges and pleasures. Getting excited about his matches,

05:17cursing him as he takes matches into the small hours and missing print deadlines.

05:22But then the joy of watching a player from these shores become one of the greatest

05:28of their profession and certainly one of the greatest sports people of all time. You just

05:32have to look at the outpouring of emotion on social media to see just how much he is loved,

05:37not just in this country but across the world. Andy Murray, thank you so much for what you've

05:41given to Scotland Sport and we wish him all the best obviously in retirement and look forward

05:46to seeing what's coming next for him.

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