Having once again won one of the smaller tournaments, Andy Murray could be about to win his first Gran slam - the US Open at Flushing Meadow New York. Andy must now surely be at his peak, the right age to be at the top of his game. Perhaps in 2-3 years time he will be on the wane and it will be too late to pick up a big title so this brings me to the point of the article.. Why after so many years is there still Anti Andy feeling, especially among the English? Unbelievably people still bring up a joke he made about not being bothered how the England football team do in a world cup run, a joke the press pounced on at the time and of course blew out of all proportion. Andy Murray is not anti English and never has been, he has/has had an English girlfriend and he himself states he has many English friends. Ok, he doesn't give "gushing" interviews, he is direct but polite and he is a tennis player not a diplomat. He is what he is and doesn't try to be Federer or Nadal and good for him why should he be? I think it has all gone too far now with the negative sentiment surrounding Andy, he is a fine player, there is still room for improvement but he is the best we have so I think it's time the English as well as the Scots got behind him - it just might be that little extra he needs to drive him to go all the way.
Tim Henman has stated on more than one occasion that Murray's joke about England was a tounge in cheek jibe at him.I think the anti Murray feeling about that joke is just an excuse by some people to not support him.Unfortunately there are many English,Welsh,Scots and Norther Irish who will look for the smallest excuse to have a go at people from the other home nations
His style of play and his personality does not really help. Also people always tend to jump on those that they feel bottle finals and so on and because of that they always wait for the next time Murray fails to throw that at him. But at the end of day for me he is the easily the greatest British player since Fred Perry. That does not say much but its true, therefore we should be happy to have a player that at the very least competes with the best and is always normally there in the 2nd week of a grand slam.
Style of play? I find him a joy to watch when he's form, he's got one of the broadest range of shots on tour and isn't a stranger to playing the odd trick shot: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/13748161.stm
But he was seen as the underdog. Pundits and co always say its only a matter of time before Murray wins a GS and so on. Also his style of play can be very gritty and boring at times but to be fair he has improved a lot on that front.
To me he comes across as the typical sterotypical dour scot. Look at the interviews certain Scottish managers give. Nothing against Murray or the scots, just an observation.
The frustrating thing about Andy is that it is clear that he has the potential to win Grandslams and occasionally he can be utterly dominant. Unfortunately we don't see it enough and it appears that Andy in big matches and on big points is far too cautious and passive. I always judge how well Andy's playing on his ability to put away the short ball. If he's playing well and confidently he tends to put them away, where as all to often he just rolls them in. I really hope he does win one eventually, but it'll have to be in the next few years I feel, otherwise the 'Tim Henman Syndrome' will start and the pressure will become to much I fear (as if the pressure isn't over the top as it is!!)
I'm not sure what he actually said about England but it was probably over proportioned as the press in this country normally do. Furthermore, I know he has a lot of haters due to his attitude but this just occurs on court and lets be honest if you were in the same position how would you react if you missed a shot or something? I think it shows that he is clearly good enough to win a grand slam but when there are three players of the calibre of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic it will always be hard but by showing by past records he can beat them! and many times but it just seems he cant beat them all at once. There soon will be a gs where it comes all together.
I,ve got lots of scottish friends, but most of them love to see england lose at anything (cricket, football, anything!) therefor I have no doubt he means what he said. Now I love to see Scotland lose and lets be honest they are so much better at that than we are lol. thier football is a joke, yet they constantly slag off the EPL.
I don't go with this English/Scottish divide nonsense, and would love to see Murray win a Grand Slam: particularly Wimbledon so we can move on from Fred Perry...
did you know in 1966 the steets of glasgow were empty everyone watching the final hoping germany would win.
Don,t know for sure but I know 2 jocks from glasgow (both sides) and they were told by thier parents. sad but true! In fact I just talked to one on facebook and he sticks by it.
By both sides i presume you mean Celtic & Rangers.Being Rangers fans always regard themselves as British i presume they would then support a British team against the Germans
Just because the streets of Glasgow were empty in 1966, it doesn't mean that every one of them wanted England to lose. However, I would hazzard a guess that the majority will have wanted England to lose by the very nature of the football rivalry that existed (exists?) between our nations... All the same, when we have been or are at war, the Scots and the English have fought side by side for hundreds of years...
they also invaded us when we were off fighting the french. I,m not talking about wars I,m talking about the joy they take when england lose at anything`, including murrey. so why should I support that jock(who said when asked who he will support replied ``anyone who,s playing england``.) what about all those t shirts sold in scotland with ABU on the front .(anyone but england). as for football rivalry I,ll be supporting arsenal tonight because they,re english. I used to support all the home countries, still do in fact. just not scotland, they have a deep rooted hatred of england and I have met enough of them, if you don,t believe me go to a glasgow pub with an english cap on.(I have, what a laugh.)
