Murray is trouble-free ahead of Wimbledon

Published on 19/06/2009 22:45

THE first myth to be debunked is that Andy Murray is in trouble with his girlfriend.

As the Scot won the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club, becoming the first British man to win there in 71 years, he had good cause to be pleased. He ran over to his coaching team and gave them all high-fives. But then, as he moved down the cast list in the Murray support squad, he shook his girlfriend's hand and then moved on to his mother. Judy got a kiss. Kim, his girlfriend, didn't.

Several onlookers winced. Yikes, he's going to get hell for that. Not a bit of it.

It was all part of the fast-maturing Murray's progress towards Wimbledon. To win his first title on home soil was good; to win his first grass court title was better; but Wimbledon is what really matters. And at this time of year Murray knows that he is the focus of the nation's sporting attention: if he moves, it is noted; if he smiles, it is photographed – and if he snogs his girlfriend, he will be on the front and back pages of every paper.

"Last time I did that in San Jose (when he won his first title in 2006], people were hanging around my girlfriend's house for five days afterwards," he said with a sheepish smile. "So I thought 'just go for my mum' instead. Kim wasn't bothered. I think she quite enjoys not having people following her around."

The second myth to be debunked is that Murray is "grumpy", that he is still a stroppy adolescent with a chip on his shoulder. As he tapers down his training in the last couple of days before Wimbledon begins, Murray is a picture of calm and confidence. He is talkative, cheerful and unfailingly patient – and he does not look like a man with the weight of nation's expectations upon his shoulders. Or, indeed, a chip.

It is more proof of Murray's development as a major celebrity. Now he has learned to deal with the endless interview requests, the ceaseless questions about every aspect of his life, both on and off court. When he was 18 and just starting out as a professional, the daily interrogations came as an unwanted and intrusive surprise. Now, four years on, he knows that it is all part of his job – it goes with the territory.

"You have to learn to deal with it, and deal with it professionally, and do it as best as possible," he said. "And when you do go into press conferences and do interviews, you go in and give a good performance and don't go in there and mess around. That is something that I had to learn because it was not something that comes naturally to me and I don't think it comes naturally to many people when it is thrust upon them at that age."

And the more Murray has relaxed into his role as a national treasure, the more the Wimbledon crowd has come to understand him. After years of ooh-ing and aah-ing with Tiger Tim, the Wimbledon faithful had become used to being there for their hero. But when a young Scot appeared on the scene and started ripping through sets without so much as service break, everyone went quiet. This was a turn up for the book. Britain had not produced one of these before.

That in turn led to the third great myth about Master Murray: that the traditionalists in SW19 do not like the ambitious young man from Dunblane. That theory was debunked late one evening last year when he stood two sets and a break of serve down to Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. Until that point, Murray had not needed the crowd's help but now he did. And when he turned to the stands, he found 15,000 brand new friends standing at his shoulder, cheering him on. Murray won and a love affair was born.

"Every single time I have played there the support has been great," he said. "Every time I have played big matches against high ranking players and it has been a tight match, they have always got behind me.

"This year it is going to be even better. They are starting to change with me. There is a difference this year because I believe I can win Wimbledon and I think maybe a lot of other people believe I can do it, too, so it is different. They will give it their best shot to help me achieve that."

After reaching the US Open final last September, he knows what it feel like to play seven matches at a grand slam and how to pace himself to survive the emotional marathon.

"Maybe in the past I got so excited during matches then got down if things were not going my way," he said. "I think that is the one thing I've learned to do now: emotionally I am not getting tired. Physically I have worked really hard on my fitness and if there is a long match, everyone is going to be tired and stiff, but you don't feel like when you wake up every morning that you have got to bring that energy into today – you just have to bring enough to win."

And winning matches is all that Murray cares about. As he takes a stroll with the dog over the weekend, he is as prepared as he can be to debunk the fourth and final great myth: that Britain cannot produce Wimbledon champions. We will all discover whether that one is true or not in two weeks' time.

&#149 Andy and Jamie Murray are ambassadors for the RBS Supergrounds Awards for Primary Schools programme, providing funding for playgrounds, a community programme that has improved outdoor facilities of more than 800 schools, benefiting more than 200,000 children.

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