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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

'Just as well you had a pushy mother': How Andy Murray maintained tennis longevity

Judy Murray has jumped onto her son Andy's retirement comments to suggest she was the one who kept the Scottish tennis hero at such high standards.

An evidently emotional Andy lost in the men's doubles quarter-final alongside Dan Evans at the Paris Olympic Games to bring the curtain down on his glittering sporting career on Thursday night.

The three-time Grand Slam champion joked online afterwards that he "never even liked tennis anyway" after hanging his racquet up one final time. 

And now his mum who is often seen engaging with punters on X, replied saying: "Just as well you had a pushy mother then."


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Judy remains baffled at the lack of legacy left by Andy's staggering achievements within the sport considering his efforts for both Scotland and Great Britain over as astonishing 19-year career. 

“What he has done has changed the face of British tennis,” she told the BBC.

“I suppose, if I had a wish, I wish we had more in Scotland to show for it.

“I think people get sick of hearing that we’ll never have another Andy or Jamie Murray. But they’ve built this enormous fan base in Scotland and all over the world, so why shouldn’t we?

"Certainly, we have the will to invest in the game in Scotland.

"We're trying to build a multi-sport community centre with tennis at the heart of it just out of Dunblane, which we run as a charitable foundation.

"We are all really relishing the opportunity to give back to a sport that has given us so much."


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Judy, who coached Andy in his earlier years, has previously addressed the issue of insufficient funding for public tennis courts throughout Scotland.

"I predicted, quite some time ago, that Jamie and Andy would retire and there would be nothing to show for it, and I really feel that now," she remarked in 2021.

"We will never get this chance again."

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