Andrew "Andy" Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player and current British No.1. He is currently ranked No.4 in the world, but was ranked No.2 from 17 August 2009 to 31 August 2009. Murray achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has reached two Grand Slam finals, the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open, losing to Roger Federer both times.
Murray is most proficient on a fast surface (such as hard courts), although he has worked hard since 2008 on improving his clay court game. Murray works with a team of fitness experts, Alex Corretja is Murray's main coach as from July 2010.
EARLY LIFE
Andy Murray was born to Willie and Judy in Glasgow, Scotland. His maternal grandfather, Roy Erskine, was a professional footballer who played reserve team matches for Hibernian and in the Scottish Football League for Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath. Murray's brother, Jamie, is also a professional tennis player, playing on the doubles circuit. Murray was born with a bipartite patella, where the kneecap remains as two separate bones instead of fusing together in early childhood. He was diagnosed at the age of 16 and had to stop playing tennis for six months. Murray is seen frequently to hold his knee due to the pain caused by the condition, but manages it through a number of different ways. But Murray has been known to pull out of events because of the condition.
Following the separation of his parents when he was aged nine, Murray and Jamie lived with their father. Murray later attended Dunblane High School.
Dunblane Massacre
Murray attended Dunblane Primary School, and was present during the 1996 Dunblane massacre. Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people, mostly children who were in a younger age group than Murray, before turning one of his four guns on himself. Murray took cover in a classroom. Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but in his autobiography Hitting Back he says that he attended a youth group run by Hamilton, and that his mother gave him rides in her car.
CAREER
Junior Tennis
Murray began playing tennis at a very early age. Leon Smith, Murray's tennis coach from 11 to 17, said he had never seen a five-year-old like Murray, describing him as "unbelievably competitive". Murray attributes his abilities to the motivation gained from losing to his older brother Jamie. He first beat Jamie in an under-12s final in Solihull, afterwards teasing Jamie until his brother hit him hard enough to lose a nail on his left hand. At 12, Murray won his category at the Orange Bowl, a prestigious event for junior players. He briefly played football before reverting to tennis.At 15, Murray moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he attended the Schiller International School and trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy. Murray described this time as "a big sacrifice". While in Spain he trained with Emilio Sánchez, formerly the world No.1 doubles player.
In July 2003 Murray started out on the Challenger and Futures circuit. In his first tournament he reached the quarter finals of the Manchester challenger. In his next tournament, Murray lost in the first round to future world top tenner Fernando Verdasco in a challenger on clay. In September, Murray won his first senior title by taking the Glasgow futures event. He also reached the semi finals of the Edinburgh futures event.
Murray did not play seniors until May, when he retired after 5 games of his first round match at the Surbiton futures event. He returned to futures events in Nottingham in July, where he lost to future Grand Slam finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2nd round. Murray spent the whole of August playing in clay future events. He won the events in Xativa and Rome as well as reaching the semi final of the Vigo event.
In September 2004, he won the junior US Open by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky who is now a top 100 player. He was selected for the Davis Cup match against Austria later that month, however he wasn't selected to play.
Later that year, he won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
2005
Murray began 2005 ranked 407 in the world.In March, he became the youngest Briton to ever play in the Davis Cup, as he helped Britain win the tie with a crucial doubles win. Following the tie, Murray played in a challenger and a future event in Italy, reaching the semi finals of the latter. Turning professional in April, Murray played his first ATP tournament when he was given a wild card to the Open SEAT clay court tournament in Barcelona, where he lost in 3 sets to Jan Hernych.
Over the next few weeks Murray reached the semis and a quarter finals in 2 more futures events. He then reached the semi finals of the boys' French Open where he lost in straight sets to Marin Čilić, after he had defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter finals. This was his first junior tournament since winning the US Open.
Given a wild card to Queens, Murray progressed past Santiago Ventura in straight sets for his first ATP win. He followed this up with another straight sets win against Taylor Dent. In the last 16 he played former Australian Open champion, Thomas Johansson, where he lost the match in 3 sets. After losing the opener on a tie break, Murray won the 2nd on a tie break, but the onset of cramp and an ankle injury sealed the match 7–6, 6–7, 7–5.
Following his performance at Queens, Murray received a wild card for Wimbledon. Ranked 312, he defeated George Bastl and 14th seed Radek Štěpánek in the opening 2 rounds, in straight sets, thereby becoming the first Scot in the open era to reach the third round of the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon.In the third round Murray played 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian, and lost, 7–6, 6–1, 0–6, 4–6, 1–6.
Following Wimbledon, Murray played in Newport at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, where he lost in the 2nd round. He had a wild card for the US Open, as he was the junior champion. In the run up to the tournament Murray won challengers on the hard courts of Aptos, which sent him into the top 200, and Binghamton, New York. He also experienced his first Masters event at Cincinnati, where he beat Dent again in straight sets before losing in 3 sets to world No.4 Marat Safin.
Murray played Andrei Pavel in the opening round of the US Open. Murray recovered from 2 sets to 1 down to win his first 5 set match, 6–3, 3–6, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4, despite being sick on court. He lost in the second round to Arnaud Clément, 2–6, 6–7, 6–2, 7–6, 0–6.
Murray was again selected for the Davis Cup match against Switzerland. He was picked for the opening single rubbers, losing in straight sets to Stanislas Wawrinka. Murray then made his first ATP final at the Thailand Open. He beat Bastl, Robin Söderling, Robby Ginepri and local boy Paradorn Srichaphan. In the final he faced world No.1, Roger Federer, losing in straight sets. On 3 October, Murray achieved a top-100 ranking for the first time. He then retired from a challenger in Mons, before he competed in his last tournament of the year, an ATP event in Basel. In the opening round he faced British No.1 Tim Henman. Murray won in 3 sets before doing the same to Tomáš Berdych. The year finished with a 3rd round loss to Fernando González. He completed the year ranked 64 and was named the 2005 BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year.
Murray competed in the debut edition of the Aberdeen Cup to finish his year. He faced Greg Rusedski twice losing the first match in straight sets then coming back the next day to edge the match on a champions tiebreaker.
2006
2006 saw Murray compete on the full circuit for the first time and split with Mark Petchey and team up with Brad Gilbert.
Getting his season under way at the Adelaide International, Murray won his opening match of '06 against Paolo Lorenzi in 3 sets before bowing out to Tomáš Berdych. Murray's season then moved to Auckland where he beat Kenneth Carlsen. Murray then lost 3 matches in a row to Marin Čilić, Juan Ignacio Chela at the Australian Open and Ivan Ljubičić in Zagreb. Murray arrested the situation to beat Mardy Fish in straight sets when the tour came to San Jose, California; going on to win his first ATP title, the SAP Open, defeating world No.11 Lleyton Hewitt in the final.[54] He triumphed over Jimmy Wang and Robin Söderling before his first win over a top ten player, Andy Roddick,[55] the world No.3, to reach his 2nd ATP final, which he won. Murray backed this up with a quarter final appearance in Memphis, beating Rainer Schüttler and Rik de Voest before falling to Soderling.Murray won just 3 times between the end of February and the middle of June, losing to Tommy Robredo in Las Vegas in a first round exit, beating Vasilis Mazarakis and losing to Nikolay Davydenko at Indian Wells. First round exits in Miami and Monte Carlo then followed to Stanislas Wawrinka and Jean-René Lisnard. He progressed past Marcel Granollers in Barcelona before losing to David Ferrer. A first round loss to local boy Filippo Volandri in Rome followed, before a win in Hamburg against Gaël Monfils. Defeats to James Blake at Hamburg, Monfils at the French Open, in 5 sets, and Janko Tipsarević at Queens followed. After the French Open, where Murray was injured again, he revealed that his bones hadn't fully grown causing him to suffer from cramps and back problems.
At the Nottingham Open Murray recorded consecutive wins for the first time since Memphis. With wins over Dmitry Tursunov and Max Mirnyi before bowing out to Andreas Seppi in the quarter finals. He progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, beating Nicolás Massú, Julien Benneteau and Roddick, before succumbing in the last 16 to Australian Open finalist, Marcos Baghdatis. Murray reached the semi finals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships defeating Ricardo Mello and Sam Querrey and Robert Kendrick, with his first ever main tour whitewash (also known as a double bagel). He exited in the semis to Justin Gimelstob. Murray then won a Davis Cup rubber against Andy Ram coming back from 2 set down, but lost the doubles along side Jamie Delgado after being 2 sets to 1 up. The tie was over before Murray could play the deciding rubber.
His good form continued as the tour moved to the hard courts of the USA, recording a runner-up position at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. He defeated Ramón Delgado, Feliciano López, Fish and Tursunov before losing to Arnaud Clément. Murray then reached his first Masters Series semi final in Toronto at the Rogers Cup, beating Ferrer, Tim Henman, Carlos Moyá and Jarkko Nieminen along the way before exiting to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. At the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati Murray defeated Henman before coming only one of two players, along side Rafael Nadal, to defeat Roger Federer in 2006. This was followed by a win over Ginepri and a loss to Roddick. He also reached the fourth round of the US Open with wins over Kendrick, who pushed Murray to 4 sets. Alessio di Mauro for the loss of 2 games and a 5 set win over Fernando González. He lost in four sets to Davydenko, including a whitewash in the final set.
In the Davis Cup, Murray won both his singles rubbers but lost the doubles as Great Britain won the tie. As the tour progressed to Asia, he lost to Henman for the first time in straight sets in Bangkok and followed it up with a defeat to Jiří Novák in Tokyo. In the final 2 Masters events in Madrid and Paris, Murray defeated Iván Navarro and world No.3 Ljubičić in Madrid, followed by Chela in Paris. He exited both tournaments at the last 16 stage ending his season, with losses to Novak Djoković and Dominik Hrbatý.
Murray ended the year ranked 17th, his career best to that point. Murray finished the year by participating in the Aberdeen Cup for Scotland. Murray won both his matches against Greg Rusedski, edging the first match 6-4 in the final set before winning in straight sets in a second match the next day. Murray though was unhappy with the court being slippery and the linespeople being too close, citing that he could have twisted his ankle, due to a persistent ankle injury first sustained at Queens the year before.
2007
Murray then made the semi finals of his next 3 tournaments. Making the semis in Memphis, he defeated Frank Dancevic, Pless and Stefan Koubek before a reverse to Roddick. In Indian Wells, Murray won against Wesley Moodie, Nicolas Mahut, Davydenko and Tommy Haas before falling to Novak Djokovic. At Miami, Murray was victorious against Paul Goldstein, Robert Kendrick, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Roddick, before going down to Djokovic for the second tournament running.
Before the clay season Murray defeated Raemon Sluiter in the Davis Cup to help Britain win the tie. In his first tournament in Rome, Murray lost in the first round to Gilles Simon in 3 sets. In Hamburg, Murray played Volandri first up. In the first set, Murray was 5–1 when he hit a forehand from the back of the court and snapped the tendons in his wrist.
Murray missed a large part of the season including the French Open and Wimbledon. He returned at the Rogers Cup in Canada. On his first match he defeated Robby Ginepri in straight sets before bowing out to Fabio Fognini. At the Cincinnati Masters Murray drew Marcos Baghdatis in the first round and won only 3 games. At the US Open Murray beat Pablo Cuevas in straight sets before edging out Jonas Björkman in a 5 setter. Murray lost in the 3rd round to Lee in 4 sets.
Murray played in Great Britain's winning Davis Cup tie against Croatia, beating Marin Čilić in 5 sets. Before coming back to claim one of the dead rubbers. Murray hit form, as he then reached the final at the Metz International. After knocking out, Janko Tipsarević, Michaël Llodra, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Guillermo Cañas before failing against Tommy Robredo in the final, despite winning the first set 6–0. Murray had early exits in Moscow and Madrid; falling to Tipsarevic after winning against Evgeny Korolev in Moscow and to Nadal after defeating Radek Štěpánek and Chela in Madrid.
Murray improved as he won his third senior ATP title at the St. Petersburg Open. Beating Mirnyi, Lukáš Dlouhý, Dmitry Tursunov, Mikhail Youzhny and Fernando Verdasco to claim the title. In his final tournament in Paris, Murray went out in the quarter finals. He beat Jarkko Nieminen and Fabrice Santoro before falling to Richard Gasquet. With that result he finished at No.11 in the world. Just missing out on a place at the Masters Cup.
2008
Murray took his second title of the year at the Open 13 after beating Jesse Huta Galung, Wawrinka, Nicolas Mahut, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Marin Čilić. But Murray exited to Robin Haase in straight sets in Rotterdam.In Dubai Murray defeated Roger Federer in 3 sets before doing the same to Fernando Verdasco and falling short against Davydenko. At Indian Wells Murray defeated Jürgen Melzer and Ivo Karlović in 3 sets and crashed out to Tommy Haas before a first match exit to Cilic in Miami.
On the clay courts Murray in Monte Carlo defeated Feliciano López and Filippo Volandri before winning just four games against Novak Djokovic. Cilic then handed Murray another first match defeat in Barcelona. In Rome Murray first played Juan Martín del Potro in an ill tempered 3 set match. Murray won his first match in Rome when Del Potro retired with an injury. Murray was warned for bad language and there was disagreement between the two players where Murray claimed that Del Potro insulted his mother, who was in the crowd, and deliberately aimed a ball at his head. In the next round Murray lost in straight sets to Wawrinka. In his last tournament before the French Open Murray participated in Hamburg. He defeated Dmitry Tursunov and Gilles Simon before a defeat against Rafael Nadal. At Roland Garros he overcame local boy Jonathan Eysseric in 5 sets and clay courter José Acasuso, where he lost just 4 games. He ended the tournament after a defeat by Nicolás Almagro in 4 sets in the 3rd round.
At Queens Murray played just 2 games of his opening match before Sébastien Grosjean withdrew. Against Ernests Gulbis Murray slipped on the damp grass and caused a sprain to his thumb. He won the match in 3 but withdrew ahead of his quarter final against Andy Roddick. Any thought that he would pull out of Wimbledon was unfounded as he made the start line to reach the quarter finals for the first time. Murray defeated Fabrice Santoro, Xavier Malisse in 3 sets and Tommy Haas in 4, before the one of the matches of the tournament. Murray found himself two sets down to Richard Gasquet who was serving for the match. Murray broke took it to a tie break before the shot of the tournament on set point. Murray hit a backhand winner from way off the court, when he was almost in the stands. Murray progressed through the 4th set before an early break in the 5th. Gasquet failed to break back in the next game and made a complaint about the light. But Murray completed a 5–7, 3–6, 7–6 (3), 6–2, 6–4 win. In the next round Murray was defeated by world No.2 Nadal in straight sets.
Murray beat Alexander Paya and Melzer in the Davis Cup tie against Austria, but it was in vain as Great Britain lost the deciding rubber. He returned to ATP tournaments in Madrid. Where he won his second consecutive Masters shield. Defeating Simone Bolelli, Cilic (for the first time in '08) and Gaël Monfils. Before avenging his US Open final loss against Federer in 3 sets before taking the title against Simon. Murray then made it 3 ATP tournament wins on the bounce with his 5th title of the year at the St Petersburg Open. Where Murray beat Viktor Troicki, Gulbis, Janko Tipsarević, without dropping a set. Before thrashing Verdasco for the loss of just 3 games in the semi final and Andrey Golubev for the loss of 2 games in the final. To become the first British player to win 2 Master tournaments and the first Brit to win 5 tournaments in a year. Heading into the final Masters event of the season, Murray was on course for a record 3rd consecutive masters shield. Murray defeated Sam Querrey and Verdasco. Before David Nalbandian ended Murray's run, of 14 straight wins, when he beat him in straight sets. This was Murray's 1st defeat on the ATP tour in 3 months, since Nadal beat him in Canada.
Now at No.4 in the world, Murray qualified for the first time for Masters Cup. He beat Roddick in 3 sets, before the American withdrew from the competition. This was followed by a win over Simon to qualify for the semi finals. In his final group match against Federer, Murray defeated him in 3 sets. In the semi final Murray faced Davydenko. After leaving it all on the court against Federer, Murray succumbed to the Russian in straight sets.
Murray ended 2008 ranked fourth in the world.
2009
Murray began 2009 by beating James Blake, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He followed this with a successful defence of his title at the Qatar Open in Doha. Where he beat Albert Montañés, Philipp Petzschner and Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets before beating Federer again, 6–7, 6–2, 6–2. Before defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets to win the final
Seeded fourth at the Australian Open, Murray made it to the fourth round, after winning against Andrei Pavel, Marcel Granollers and Jürgen Melzer in straight sets. Before losing to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round. After the loss to Verdasco, Murray was delayed from going home as he was found to be suffering from a virus.
He won his eleventh career title at Rotterdam. Beating Ivan Ljubičić and Andreas Seppi in straight sets before dropping a set before Marc Gicquel pulled out injured. Murray reached the final with a win over Mario Ančić for the loss of just 3 games. In the final he faced the world No.1, Nadal, defeating him in the 3rd set. But an injury in the semi final forcing his withdrawal from the Marseille Open, which he had won in 2008.
Returning from injury, Murray went to Dubai and reached the quarter finals after a 3 set win of Stakhovsky followed by a straight sets win over Arnaud Clément. He withdrew before the quarter finals with a re-occurrence of the virus which had affected him at the Australian Open. The virus caused Murray to miss a Davis Cup tie in Glasgow.
Returning from the virus Murray made it to the final at Indian Wells. He defeated Montanes, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Tommy Robredo and Ljubicic in straight sets before winning his semi final in 3 sets against Federer. He lost in the final against Nadal, winning just 3 games in windy conditions. In the Miami Murray beat Juan Mónaco, Nicolás Massú, Viktor Troicki, Verdasco and Juan Martín del Potro to reach the final where he defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Murray got his clay season underway at the Monte Carlo Masters. He reached the semi finals after beating Victor Hănescu, Fabio Fognini and Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets before losing to Nadal, 6–2, 7–6. Murray then moved to the Rome Masters, where he lost in the second round, after a R1 bye, to Monaco in 3 sets. Despite this on 11 May 2009, he achieved the highest ever ranking of a British male in the open era when he became world No.3 Murray celebrated this achievement by trying to defend his Madrid Masters title which had switched surfaces from hard to clay. He reached the quarter finals after beating Simone Bolelli and Robredo in straight sets before losing to Del Potro. Murray reached the quarter finals of the 2009 French Open but was defeated by Fernando González in 4 sets, after defeating Juan Ignacio Chela, Potito Starace, Janko Tipsarević and Cilic to reach the quarters.
Murray won at Queen's, without dropping a set, becoming the first British winner of the tournament since 1938. He beat Seppi, Guillermo García-López, Mardy Fish, Juan Carlos Ferrero and James Blake on route to the title. This was Murray's first tournament win on grass and his first ATP title in Britain.
Murray was initially seeded third at Wimbledon, but after the withdrawal of defending champion Rafeal Nadal, Murray became the second highest seeded player, after Roger Federer and highest-ever seeded Briton in a senior event at Wimbledon. Murray reached the semi finals. He opened with a win over Robert Kendrick followed by Ernests Gulbis and Troicki. Rain meant that Murray's 4th round match against Stanislas Wawrinka was the first match to be played entirely under Wimbledon's retractable roof, also enabling it to be latest finishing match ever at Wimbledon. Murray's win stretched to 5 sets and three hours 56 minutes (2–6, 6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3), resulting in a 22.38 finish that was approximately an hour after play is usually concluded. In the Quarter finals he dispatched Ferrero in straight sets. Murray lost a tight semi final to Andy Roddick, achieving his best result in the tournament to date.
Murray returned to action in Montreal, beating Jérémy Chardy, Ferrero, Davydenko and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the final. Where he beat Del Potro in 3 sets. After this victory he overtook Nadal in the rankings and held the No.2 spot until the start of the US Open. Murray followed the Masters win and the No.2 by playing at the Cincinnati Masters where he beat Almagro, Radek Štěpánek, and Julien Benneteau before Federer beat Murray for the first time since the US Open following 4 defeats, in straight sets. In the US Open, after getting past Gulbis, Paul Capdeville and Taylor Dent, Murray, hampered by a wrist injury, suffered a straight sets loss to Cilic. Murray competed in the Davis Cup tie in Liverpool against Poland. Murray won both his singles matches but lost the doubles as Britain lost the tie and was relegated to the next group. During the weekend Murray damaged his wrist further and was forced to miss 6 weeks of the tour, and with it dropped to No.4 in the world.
Murray returned to the tour in Valencia, where he won his sixth and final tournament of the year. After beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Leonardo Mayer, Montanes, Verdasco and Mikhail Youzhny to claim the title. In the final Master event of 2009, in Paris, Murray beat Blake in 3 sets before losing to Stepanek in 3. At the World Tour Finals in London, Murray started well by beating Del Potro in 3 sets. Before losing a 3 set match to Federer. He won his next match against Verdasco but because Murray, Federer and Del Potro all ended up on equal wins and sets, it came down to game percentage and Murray was squeezed out by a game. Bringing an end to his 2009 season.
2010
Murray was seeded fifth in the Australian Open following Murray's decision not to play Doha, losing the ranking to Juan Martín del Potro. He progressed through his opening few matches in straight sets to set up a quarter-final clash with the world No.2 Rafael Nadal. Murray lead 6–3, 7–6 (2), 3–0 before the Spaniard had to retire with a torn quadricep. He became the first British man to reach more than one Grand Slam final in 72 years, after recovering from a set down to beat Croatia's Marin Čilić in the semi-finals. In the final he lost to world No.1 Roger Federer in straight sets.
After pulling out of the Open 13 event in Marseille, Murray returned to action in Dubai. He was defeated in the second round, by Janko Tipsarević of Serbia 7–6 (3), 4–6, 6–4. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray defeated Nicolás Almagro, after he retired at the end of the 1st set to advance to the quarter-finals. However he was defeated by Robin Söderling, losing 1–6, 6–7, despite saving three match points and coming 2 points away from forcing a decider. Murray next played at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, but had an early exit in a match with Mardy Fish, 6–4, 6–4 in his opening round (after receiving a bye in the first round). He said following the defeat that his mind hadn't been fully on tennis. He consequently lost his No.3 ranking to Nadal.
Switching attention to clay, Murray requested a wildcard for Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to prevent him losing his No.4 ranking to del Potro. He suffered another early exit, this time to Philipp Kohlschreiber 6–2, 6–1 in the 2nd Round. He also entered the doubles competition with Ross Hutchins and defeated world No.10 doubles team Cermak and Meritmak, before losing to the Bryan Brothers on a champions tie breaker. He then went on to reach the 3rd round in the Rome Masters 1000 where he lost to David Ferrer in straight sets, after beating Seppi and ending a 3 match losing streak. At the Madrid Masters he reached the quarter finals beating Juan Ignacio Chela and Victor Hănescu along the way. He subsequently lost to Ferrer again in a closely fought battle with the final score 7–5 6–3. Murray compeleted his preparations for the second slam of the year by defeating Fish in an exhibition match 11-9 in a champions tie breaker. At the second slam of the year, the French Open, Murray was drawn in the 1st round against Richard Gasquet. Murray battled back from 2 sets down to win in the final set. Due to bad weather, it then took 4 sets and 2 days to see off Chela. Playing for the 3rd day running, Murray lost a set 6–0 against Marcos Baghdatis, something he had not done since the French Open quarter finals the previous year. Murray lost in straight sets to Tomas Berdych in the 4th round, and credited his opponent for outplaying him
Murray's next appearance was at the grass courts of London. Attempting to become the first Briton since Gordon Lowe in 1914 to successfully defend the title, Murray progressed to the third round where he faced Mardy Fish. At three all in the final set with momentum going Murray's way (Murray had just come back from 3-0 down), the players came off for bad light leaving Murray fuming at the umpire and tournament referee. Murray was quoted saying he only came off because it was three all Coming back the next day Murray was edged out by the eventual finalist in a tie breaker for his second defeat to him in the year. Due to his early loss at Queen's Murray decided to play an exhibition match against Mikhail Youzhny, winning 6–3, 6–4. In Murray's second round match at Wimbledon, he defeated Jarkko Nieminen by a scoreline of 6–3, 6–4, 6–2; a match viewed by Queen Elizabeth II during her first visit to the Championships since 1977. Murray lost to Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, 6–4, 7–6 (6), 6–4.
On 27 July 2010, Andy Murray and his coach Maclagan split and Murray replaced him with Alex Corretja just before he competed in the Farmers Classic as a wild card replacement for Novak Djokovic. Murray stated that views on his game between the pair of them differed wildly and that he didn't want to over complicate things. He thanked Maclagan for his 'positive contribution' and that they have a great relationship. Jonathan Overend, the BBC's tennis journalist, reported that the split happened over Maclagan annoyance at what he saw as Corretja increasing involvement in Murray's coaching. But Murray had no intention of sacking him. despite the press reporting that Murray was ready to replace him with Andre Agassi's former coach Darren Cahill.
Starting the US hard court season with 2010 Farmers Classic Murray reached the final. Murray struggled with his serve as it dropped to just 42% for first serves in, in his opening two matches, as he beat Tim Smyczek and Alejandro Falla. Murray then edged Feliciano Lopez in the semi final. During the semi final, whilst commentating for ESPN, Cahill appeared to rule himself out of becoming Murray's next coach. In Murray's first final since the Australian Open, Murray lost against Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-7(2), 3-6. This was his first loss to Querrey in five career meetings and the first time he had lost a set against the American.
In Canada, Murray successfully defended a Masters title for the first time. He became the first player since Agassi in 1995 to defend the Canadian Masters. Murray also became the fifth player to defeat Nadal (the fifth occasion that Murray has beaten the player ranked world #1) and Federer (Murray had achieved this previously at the unofficial 2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition). Murray defeated Nadal in straight sets, and Federer also in straight sets, for this first win in four attempts and a first win in a final against the Swiss star. This ended his title drought dating back to November 2009. Murray also beat David Nalbandian, for the first time with a 6-2, 6-2 win. Ending the Argentine's eleven match winning streak. Murray lost just one set in the entire week, and it came in the second set against Gael Monfils, where Murray won just six points in the entire set, before he turned it around to win the final set.
At the Cincinnati Masters Murray opened with a 3 set win over Chardy. Murray complained afterwards about the speed of the court; and edged Ernests Gulbis in a final set tie break to reach the quarter finals. Before his quarter final match with Fish, Murray complained that organisers refused to put the match on later in the day. Murray had played his two previous matches at midday, and all his matches in Toronto between 12 and 3pm. Murray said after the match on the issue; "I don't ever request really when to play. I don't make many demands at all during the tournaments." The reason given for turning down Murray's request was that Fish was playing doubles on which Murray commented "I'm not sure, the way the tennis works, I don't think matches should be scheduled around the doubles because it's the singles that's on the TV." Murray had no option but to play at midday again with temperatures reaching 33 degrees in the shade. Murray won the first set on a tie breaker but after a toilet break began to feel ill, and the doctor was called on court to actively cool Murray down. Murray admitted after the match that he had considered retiring. Murray lost the second set but dug in to force a final set decider which went to a tie breaker before Fish won. At the US Open Murray started against Lacko in searing heat. Murray won in straight sets and there were no signs of the problems which affected Murray in Cincinnati. Murray played Dustin Brown in the second round and after a small rain delay, won the match in straight sets. In the third round Murray played Stanislas Wawrinka and bowed out of the tournament losing in four sets. However questions about Murray's conditioning arose as he called the trainer out twice during the match.
Playing Style And Equipment
Murray is best described as a defensive counter-puncher, with professional tennis coach Paul Annacone citing that Murray "may be the best counterpuncher on tour today." His greatest strengths include solid groundstrokes with low error rate, the uncanny ability to anticipate and react, and his transition from defence to offence with extraordinary speed which enables him to hit winners from defensive positions. His playing style has been liken to that of Miloslav Mečíř. Murray's tactics usually involve passive exchanges from the baseline, usually waiting for an unforced error. However, Murray has been criticised for his generally passive style of play and lack of offensive weapons, prompting some to call him a "pusher". He is capable of injecting sudden pace to his groundstrokes to surprise his opponents who are used to the slow rally. Murray is also one of the top returners in the game, often able to block back fast serves with his excellent reach and uncanny ability to anticipate. For this reason, Murray is rarely aced. Murray is also known for being one of the most intelligent tacticians on the court, often constructing points. One of his greatest strengths, however, is his first serve.
Early in his career, most of his main tour wins came on hard courts. However, he claimed to prefer clay courts] because of his training in Barcelona as a junior player.
Murray is sponsored by Head for his racquets. He wore Fred Perry apparel until late 2009, when he signed a five-year £10m contract with Adidas, which he began wearing at the start of the 2010 season.
PERSONAL LIFE
Murray is in a four-year relationship with Kim Sears, which ended briefly in 2009 before they reconciled in 2010.
Murray's tennis idol is Andre Agassi.
NATIONAL IDENTITY
Murray identifies himself as "Scottish, but also British". Prior to Wimbledon 2006, Murray caused some public debate when he was quoted as saying he would "support anyone but England" at the 2006 World Cup. He received large amounts of hate mail on his website as a result. It was also reported that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt on the day of England's World Cup match with the South American team.
Murray explained that his comments were said in jest during a light-hearted interview with sports columnist Des Kelly, who asked him if he would be supporting Scotland in the World Cup, in the knowledge that Scotland had failed to qualify for the tournament. Kelly stated another tabloid had later "lifted a couple of [the comments] into a 'story' that took on a life of its own and from there the truth was lost" and that he despaired over the "nonsensical criticism".
Murray protested that he is "not anti-English and never was" and he expressed disappointment over England's subsequent elimination by Portugal. In an interview with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, Tim Henman confirmed that the remarks had been made in jest and were only in response to Murray being teased by Kelly and Henman. He also stated that the rumour that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt was untrue.
In an interview with Gabby Logan for the BBC's Inside Sport programme, Murray said that he was both Scottish and British and was comfortable and happy with his British identity. He said he saw no conflict between the two and was equally proud of them. He has also pointed out that he is quarter English with some of his family originating from Newcastle, his coach is Scottish and that his girlfriend, Kim Sears, is English.
-[ Courtesy: Wikipaedia]
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