‘You play tennis to play in front of big crowds and in great atmospheres’: Andy Murray

‘You play tennis to play in front of big crowds and in great atmospheres’: Andy Murray

Andy Murray

The last few years has seen Andy Murray undergo multiple hip surgeries in a bid to salvage his tennis career. Murray who was once ranked no.1 in the world with multiple Grand Slam wins and Olympic medals, has now resorted to accepting wild card entries into tournaments, such is his desperation.

The last tournament Murray participated in was the Rotterdam Open in March this year, and did well to clear the first round. He defeated Robin Haase in the first round, only to be beaten by Andrey Rublev in the second. Murray was also scheduled to participate in the Miami Open after that, but he missed it due to the birth of his fourth child. 

Andy Murray on playing constantly, “I need to be consistently practicing (rather than) having these enforced breaks,” he said after being on court last week playing points. “That was the thing in December, why I think I got into such a good place was because of the two months of practicing basically six days a week every week for a couple of months.” 

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Andy Murray hope for a Wimbledon with crowds 

Andy Murray
Andy Murray

Murray is a two time Champion at Wimbledon. He won the event in 2013 and 2016. Being British has meant Murray has always had the crowd behind his back on the famed green lawns. So speaking on the possibility of crowds being present he said, “For me, it would make a huge difference.”

Murray was hopeful that the tournament would be allowed to go ahead at 30% capacity. He also said he hoped that the Centre court would be allowed to be full. Murray said that at the beginning he was ok with no crowds, but now he misses them. He wants crowds to be allowed in the tennis courts, as nothing beats playing in front of big crowds with a great atmosphere. 

“Hopefully we can get some good crowds in. We’ve heard 30 per cent, but I don’t know if that’s 30 per cent of their usual capacity but they’ll be allowed to have Centre Court and Court One full.” Murray added, “At the beginning I didn’t miss it (crowds) that much, I was just pumped to be competing again. But, as the weeks go on, that’s kind of what you play for, to play in front of big crowds and play in great atmospheres. It’s something that I’ve definitely missed.”

Also Read: Wimbledon aims for 25% fan capacity for 2021; 14-day event from 2022