Interview: Jamie Murray still hopes for a successful 2020 and wants to team up with brother Andy at Wimbledon

Coronavirus has forced Scot off court but he reveals why he can’t afford to slack off

Tennis players have been forced off court by the coronavirus but Jamie Murray still has high hopes of a successful 2020 with new partner Neal Skupski. Picture: Jaimi Chisholm/Getty Images

It’s not all glamour in elite tennis, you know. I’ve just seen Jamie Murray with his collar up and his beanie pulled right down, which might protect him against a familiar hazard for Brits in his sport but isn’t much cop when confronted with the great unknown. “It’s just three degrees and the rain’s been sideways and non-stop all day,” he explains, speaking into his camera-phone, before adding: “The coronavirus is flying everywhere.” The Scot is about to expose himself to London’s Underground so it’s little wonder he signs off: “Indian Wells can’t come quickly enough.”

This is Murray, vlogging not volleying, the star of the fourth season of My Tennis Life, one of the network cable treats on the Tennis Channel, and now more than ever with the sport having been suspended, station bosses must be glad to have his chipper personality and the droll humour that’s a match for little brother Andy.

The second half of the most recent edition of the show has Murray making it to the Californian city which hosts what he calls “our biggest tournament of the ATP tour” – but with Coachella Valley in a state of emergency no tennis is played. “It feels weird,” he says from the locker-room. “There are something like 150 players here but no fans. I didn’t see this coming.” The final scene is Murray in a shopping centre car park: “Sitting here with nothing to do except kill time while I wait for my plane home. Massive thunderstorm on the way as well… ”

Somewhere in between these two dispatches, I speak to Murray. Although unable to see him, his downcast mood is obvious. There are bigger and more vital concerns than tennis right now, he knows this, but he still allows himself to wonder when he will next get to play. He had high hopes for 2020 and serious ambitions. Still does.

He has just wondered about the rest of the campaign out loud, on Twitter: “Doesn’t bode well… French Open? Wimbledon?!!!” The concern was well-placed. Roland Garros has now been moved to September and it must be unlikely that the All-England Club will be able to hold on to their traditional July. These are Majors so would be uppermost in Murray’s thoughts in any case, but more than that, they are the only two in men’s doubles which he hasn’t won.

“I’d love to achieve a career Grand Slam before I stop,” he says. Is retirement in his thoughts? Definitely not. A couple of weeks ago he turned 34. Invariably on tour when his birthday comes round, he was in Rotterdam this time and celebrated quietly over dinner with his wife Alejandra Gutierrez, playing partner Neal Skupski and coach Louis Cayer – but he was back on court the next day. He admits it is difficult to contemplate the end.

“I’m not thinking about the moment I have to stop and I don’t really want to. Older pros always say: ‘Play as long as you can’. As long as I’m fit and healthy, as long as my ranking enables me to compete in the biggest tournaments in the world, as long I’m still enjoying tennis, I fully intend to. Play into my 40s – why not?”

Unlike poor Andy, Jamie has avoided serious injury, which is pretty good going for such a tall player, nicknamed “Stretch” by Cayer. “Touch wood, I haven’t had any of the big stuff.” Competing 25 to 30 weeks of the year he divides training 50-50 between court and gym. Squats and jumps help keep the fast-twitch fibres in good nick, though these diminish with age. “Once you stop, that’ll be that, won’t it? Recreating what tennis gives you someplace else – walking out on to the court in front of a big crowd, the energy you take from that and the drama and tension and excitement of a match as it unfolds – that’s going to be impossible, I realise that.”

Surely, though, there has been the odd reflective moment – during the squats, perhaps – when he has allowed his mind to wander and wonder what the post-tennis life might involve? “Can’t say I have,” he says. Reality TV, perhaps? “That sounds like a two or three-month commitment – too long.” Strictly Come Dancing, following mum Judy on to the dancefloor, would grab him at the first opportunity. “Not. A. Chance!” Well, media openings will present themselves, I’m sure. Murray is a personable host of his YouTube channel and, as his grandfather Roy Erskine once told me with an impish grin, he is the most handsome of the Murrays. But he stresses: he ain’t quitting yet.

Murray’s golden year – indeed the apotheosis for both brothers – was 2016 when both rose to No 1 in the world, Jamie on the back of his other Slam triumphs in Australia and at the US Open.

His partner in Melbourne and New York was the Brazilian, Bruno Soares, and he believes there is more success to come with England’s Skupski. “We started playing at Wimbledon last year and got off to a bit of a slow start. But from August onwards we won a lot of matches and achieved good momentum going into off-season. This year, what there’s been of it, has not quite happened for us yet. We lost a lot of tiebreaks and there were some close matches where we weren’t quite able to find a way to win. But, as long as we get back playing tennis at some point, I’m sure we can still have a good 2020.”

This interrupted campaign has still taken Murray to another final even though at the Australian he and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of America lost in the mixed doubles. He is similarly optimistic this partnership can add to the Slams he has won in mixed at Wimbledon (twice) and the US (three times). “Beth’s an amazing player and I’ve been lucky to get the chance to compete with her,” he adds.

The decorum of doubles has changed in the time Murray has been playing: now every point must be congratulated, or commiserated about, with a fist-bump or high-five. But it has always been the case that pairings don’t fall out on court. They simply can’t, according to our man.

“I’ve never suffered a meltdown too many times on court, either with myself or my partner,” he says. “Doubles is a team sport at the end of the day and on court you can’t hide. In football if someone is having a shocker they can be substituted or if they stay on the pitch there might be somewhere for them to tuck themselves away for a bit. In doubles it’s you and your partner so you have to do everything you can to perform as well as you can and at the same time help them.”

Teamwork at home has played a big part in Murray’s success. Alejandra doesn’t play tennis and knew nothing about the sport when they met. Her skills are in marketing and he knows it was her pragmatic, clear-thinking business head which saved his career when it wasn’t going well and he was even contemplating giving up. “Around 2011-12 my ranking had dropped and I was struggling,” he says. “She made a plan. ‘Let’s work out how we’re going to get your career back to where it should be’, she said. She’s always believed in me and the talents I had and knew I could do better. She was a huge support to me then and still is now.”

Alejandra is Colombian and Murray loves visiting her homeland – “a really cool place”. Mind you, the last trip to Bogota before Christmas to see her parents caused him some anxiety after a Colombian player had failed a drugs test, blaming this on impurities in the local beef. “I was a bit worried because I’d been to quite a few barbecues. But I tested OK.” The demands of the tour – when it’s on at least – mean he doesn’t get back to Dunblane as often as he woud like, or to see Hibernian. “The last time was against Kilmarnock at Easter Road. They were winning but got pegged back – a familiar outcome this season.” Tennis kept him away from Hibs’ greatest day – the Scottish Cup triumph of 2016 – but mum and grandad, who was a young Hibee prospect in the glory days of the Famous Five, were at the final. “The camera panned to them at the end – he was crying. But maybe the fans shouldn’t get too excited about a repeat win. Hearts at Hampden in the semi-finals? That might not go so well… ”

Murray’s YouTube channel provides tips on doubles play – a small contribution he can make to the development of the game while still facing the demands of being a top competitor. Much more needs to be done to develop tennis in Scotland, and the drum has been banged regularly and loudly by Judy and her sons, with Jamie a fierce critic of the failure as he has seen it to build on their legacy.

Last month, though, the Lawn Tennis Association agreed to double annual funding to the sport in Scotland to around £1.5 million. Tennis Scotland’s chief executive, Blane Dodds, described the cash boost coming after the national academy in Stirling opening its doors and investment for ten new indoor facilities as “the last piece of the jigsaw”. Does Murray agree?

“Well, any additional investment that we receive as a tennis nation is good news. Do I wish it was more? Of course.” Then, somewhat pointedly, he adds: “If I were the LTA and I was giving out this sum then I would want to make sure that who was getting the money would know how to spend it and what his plan was. That’s how business works.

“Tennis in Scotland, growing the game here, is important to me and important to us as a family. Because of what we’ve been able to achieve on the court – particularly Andy – there’s this amazing opportunity to leave a lasting impression, be that through more facilities, better coaching and just the chance to pick up a racket and play. If Andy and I were to stop tomorrow I don’t want this to feel like a massive wasted opportunity for the country.”

But the fabulous Murray boys are not stopping tomorrow. And, even though their sport has ceased for the time being, this dream-like tale of a small, puddle-damp country producing two world No 1s and Grand Slammers continues to amuse and amaze. Anecdotes about their modest DIY beginnings in the game are endless. The latest comes from Andy guesting on the YouTube channel and recalling how yet more rainy-day resourcefulness enabled them to continue their development as tennis tyros: “We used to arrange all our trophies in the living room, biggest at either end and the smaller ones in the middle. This was the net and the big rule was: don’t touch it. That particular game was called, in the French way, ‘touche’.”

“There were millions of others,” adds Jamie. “In Scotland when it rains so much of the bloomin’ time you have to be inventive. We were competitive but we also loved mucking around and had such a laugh together.” So, with the boys doubling down for Davis Cup glory and with Andy having enjoyed his “Murrena” match-up with Serena Williams last year, might we see the brothers play alongside each other again?

“We don’t know what will happen with Andy’s hip but we hope he’s going to get back fit and healthy and get back on to the court. I haven’t seen him for a while – this break will give us the chance to catch up – but I know he’s been practising which is good news. We’ve always said we wanted to play Wimbledon one time together before we stop and hopefully we’ll get that chance.”

Jamie is making sure he is ready. Tune back into My Tennis Life and you see him leaping on to the rowing machine. “Let’s get after it, guys,” he shouts. “The journey never stops!”