“The locker is a scary place,” Standing on the brink of retirement Andy Murray reveals how meeting his ‘idols’ was a trip downhill for the young Briton

Andy Murray talks about how the locker room was a scary place as a youngster and names some players who were nice to him.


“The locker is a scary place,” Standing on the brink of retirement Andy Murray reveals how meeting his ‘idols’ was a trip downhill for the young Briton

Andy Murray (Via Imago)

Andy Murray has been off to a brilliant start in the 2024 Indian Wells after defeating David Goffin in straight sets in the first round of the tournament.

With this, the Brit has now won 17 successive sets against the Belgian and is now 7-0 up against him in head-to-head matches, which proves his dominance over the 33-year-old. 

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In a recent interview following his incredible win against Goffin, the host brought up the topic of Andy’s good relations with Naomi Osaka.

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For context, the Japanese recently revealed how the Brit always checks in on her, especially during tough times. Upon being asked whether he considers himself to be a mentor to the young players, the Brit made a great revelation. 

Not necessarily. I know that when I started on the tour, you’re obviously unbelievably excited to be playing on the Tour. But the locker room is a bit of a scary place. Like you don’t know any of the players really and yeah it can be a little bit intimidating at times and I remember the players were really nice to me when I first came on the Tour and how much that worked for me.

Murray said. 

Talking about the match against David Goffin, Murray won 6-2, 6-3 in straight sets and was on his toes from the very beginning. Goffin did not get any chance to make a comeback in the match.

With that being said, it seems like this victory will provide a big boost to Andy Murray’s confidence, which he needs right now, looking at his disappointing performances in the past few tournaments. 

Andy Murray names the players who were nice to him during his initial years as a tennis player

On being asked to name some of the players who were nice to him when he was an up-and-coming player on the tennis circuit, the Brit named Jonas Bjorkman, Tim Henman, Andre Agassi, and Brad Gilbert.

Andy Murray against Jake Mensik at the ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis tournament at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, on February 21, 2024
Andy Murray against Jake Mensik at the ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis tournament at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, on February 21, 2024 (Via Imago)

However, he also revealed that there were some players who were not nice to him, and he preferred to keep them anonymous.

I also remember the ones that weren’t. And that was tough as well. When you’re a young kid coming up and you’ve got idols of yours who you’ve watched on the TV and they’re being pretty horrible to you. That’s not easy. So yeah like if any of the players are going through a tricky time, you’d obviously wish them well and hope they’re doing better. 
Continuing further, he added

Murray will now face Andrey Rublev in the round of 16 of the 2024 Indian Wells, and it will definitely be a difficult challenge for him. Having just reached the semifinals of the Dubai Open, Rublev will head into this match as the favorite. 

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