When Andy Murray takes on world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open, it’ll be one of the toughest challenges of his career.
That’s why we thought it would be good to radiate some positivity in the direction of the British number one, in the form of a list of reasons why he’s awesome…
1. He’s got a sense of humour
Who's everyone picking in the big match at roland garros tomorrow? Murray vs FerrerJust kidding, fully aware we are playing second fiddle
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 2, 2015
That’s the tweet Murray sent ahead of his quarter-final with David Ferrer. Murray’s self-deprecating, dry wit is coming more and more to the fore. Far from being dour or boring as many people thought earlier in his career, he’s actually one of funniest people in British sport.
2. He’s self-aware
Remember when Murray won Sports Personality Of The Year? In his moment of triumph, making what was, it has to be said, a pretty boring speech, he suddenly said: “I know sometimes I’m not the easiest person to support…No matter how excited I try to sound my voice still sounds incredibly boring so I’m very happy and excited right now. That’s just my voice. I’m sorry.” Brilliant.
3. He’s a feminist
Ever since hiring Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, Murray has become an unlikely feminist icon. The fact that he was the most high-profile male player to take on a female coach was great in itself, but the way he’s acted since has been exemplary. In his latest column for French sports paper L’Equipe, he wrote about the unwarranted criticism she’s received, saying: ”The real low point hit at the Masters when I lost 6-0, 6-1 against Roger (Federer, in London). Rather than blaming me, they pointed the finger at Amelie. I still remember what some players and coaches said about her, I wasn't impressed and I shan't forget in a hurry…”
4. He broke that British tennis hoodoo
You know, Wimbledon and all that? He was the first Briton to win the men’s singles at SW19 since 1936 when he took the crown two years ago. If winning the biggest tennis tournament of all isn’t reason enough to love him, we don’t know what is. He is a tennis player, after all.
5. He broke that other British tennis hodoo
He was also the first Brit to win any grand slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977 when he won the US Open in 2012. Seriously, this guy is very good at tennis.
6. He’s always improving
When Murray comes up against something that’s holding him back, he works at it, and overcomes it. Witness the way he developed his physicality to help him break into the top four, or more recently the work he’s done with Mauresmo to improve his clay-court game. It’s a mightily impressive trait.
7. He was there for that weekend in 2012
You know the one we’re talking about – Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Ben Ainslie, Murray… anyone who was involved in that glorious Olympic gold rush, we’ll lover forever.
8. He loves dogs
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) April 19, 2014
Who doesn’t love dogs? And who doesn’t love a human who loves dogs? And who doesn’t love Andy Murray’s dogs in particular? If you don’t, you must be some kind of unfeeling robot.
For more pictures of Rusty and Maggie May, follow Andy on Instagram. Then you’ll get pics like this…
…and this…
…and this.
9. He speaks his mind
Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this!
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) September 18, 2014
Murray took a lot of stick (from bitter English people, mostly) for basically telling everyone how he was going to vote in the Scottish independence referendum. We’re all for sportspeople speaking their minds. Better that than the kind of bland nonsense we’ve got used to hearing out of the mouths of Premier League footballers.
10. He made the royal wedding look rubbish
Normally we have about as much interest in celebrity weddings as we do in getting hit in the face by a John Isner ace, but we did manage to raise a smile when we saw the pictures of Andy and Kim’s nuptials. They just looked so damn happy. We’ll take them over Will and Kate any day.
11. He can open his mouth wider than any other human
We reckon he could fit seven tennis balls in there. Maybe eight.
Source: SNAPPA
