Why we should all get behind Andy Murray

I am not a tennis fan, particularly, but like many people in this country I take a passing interest in Wimbledon and occasionally the other grand slam events each year. The Davis Cup and the Masters series do not particularly interest me and if there was cricket or football on the other channel I would most certainly be watching these instead. However this year I could not help being captivated by the famous old tournament.  Britain...yes Britain, not Spain or Serbia have a Wimbledon men's singles finalist for the first time in the professional era in the shape of Andy Murray. He did not bottle it in the quaters or the semi's Henman style, but he made it to the final two of the tournament, overcoming difficult opponents from round one. In tennis I have a motto that if I've heard of them then they must be good. I'd heard of all of Murray's opponents from Davydenko in round one, through Karlovic, Baghdatis, Cilic, Ferrer, Tsonga and finally Federer in the final. There were no gimmes in that run.

The tears he shed after his defeat in the final showed how much he wanted to win this tournament and how much he cared. People have often written Murray off as aloof, humourless and boring in interviews. With the voracity of the British press for a headline I do not blame him. He is probably scared of saying something out of place and has been bitten before by the press when they reported his off the cuff comment about "supporting anybody but England" in the 2006 World Cup. I think this so-called aloofness is more a case of self- preservation than how he actually really is. I heard him on a live radio show on Radio Five Live as a guest and in this more relaxed studio environment he came across as a humorous and engaging character, liberated by the more friendly surroundings where headline chasing was not the object of the journalists present.

There is also a conspiracy for Murray to be disliked. Unlike his peers Murray did not come through the British LTA system and instead opted to train at the Schiller International School in Barcelona when he was fifteen. The fact that Murray is the best British tennis player by a country mile,and puts to shame any other  player brought through the English system exposes starkly the incompetence of the LTA to produce world class tennis players. This I think has irked some people at the top of the sport in this country because his success has made them look rather silly.

Murray has also had to overcome a lot of problems in his life. His parents split when he was nine, around the same time that he survived the worst school massacre ever witnessed in this country at his school in Dunblane. He also has a knee condition which he has had to overcome in order to play tennis at the top level. It is his single-mindedness and professionalism and a heck of a lot of talent that has enabled him to get to where he is in the game and so what if he doesn't kow-tow to the celebrity-obsessed media who want him to quip a funny joke for the papers or appear in panto at the London Palladium. He is different and disliked in this country because he is an absolute professional who has no other focus in life but to do what he is good at, win tennis matches.