Murray is most proficient on a fast surface (such as hard courts), although he has worked hard since 2008 on improving his clay court game. Murray works with a team of fitness experts.
Early life
Andy Murray was born to Will and Judy in Glasgow, Scotland. His maternal grandfather, Roy Erskine, was a professional association footballer who played reserve team matches for Hibernian and in the Scottish Football League for Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath. Murray's brother, Jamie, is also a professional tennis player, playing on the doubles circuit. Murray was born with a bipartite patella, where the kneecap remains as two separate bones instead of fusing together in early childhood. He was diagnosed at the age of 16 and had to stop playing tennis for six months.
Dunblane massacre
Murray attended Dunblane Primary School, and was present during the 1996 Dunblane massacre. Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people before turning one of his four guns on himself. Murray took cover in a classroom. Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but in his autobiography Hitting Back he says that he attended a youth group run by Hamilton, and that his mother gave Hamilton rides in her car.
Career
Junior tennis
Murray began playing tennis at age 5. Leon Smith, Murray's tennis coach from 11 to 17, said he had never seen a five-year-old like Murray, describing him as "unbelievably competitive". Murray attributes his abilities to the motivation gained from losing to his older brother Jamie. He first beat Jamie in an under-12s final in Solihull, afterwards teasing Jamie until his brother hit him hard enough to lose a nail on his left hand. At 12, Murray won his category at the Orange Bowl, a prestigious event for junior players. He briefly played football before reverting to tennis.
At 15, Murray moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he studied at the Schiller International School and trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy. Murray described this time as "a big sacrifice". While in Spain, he trained with Emilio Sánchez, formerly the world No. 1 doubles player.
In July 2003, Murray started out on the Challenger and Futures circuit. In his first tournament, he reached the quarter-finals of the Manchester challenger. In his next tournament, Murray lost on clay in the first round to future world top-tenner Fernando Verdasco. In September, Murray won his first senior title by taking the Glasgow futures event. He also reached the semi-finals of the Edinburgh futures event.
Murray did not play seniors until May, when he retired after five games of his first-round match at the Surbiton futures event.
Andy Murray in 2005
In March, he became the youngest Briton ever to play in the Davis Cup, as he helped Britain win the tie with a crucial doubles win. Following the tie, Murray played in a challenger and a future event in Italy, reaching the semi-finals of the latter. Turning professional in April, Murray played his first ATP tournament when he was given a wild card to the Open SEAT clay court tournament in Barcelona, where he lost in three sets to Jan Hernych.
Over the next few weeks, Murray reached the semis and a quarter-finals in two more futures events. He then reached the semi-finals of the boys' French Open where he lost in straight sets to Marin Čilić, after he had defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter-finals. This was his first junior tournament since winning the US Open.
Given a wild card to Queen's, Murray progressed past Santiago Ventura in straight sets for his first ATP win. He followed this up with another straight-sets win against Taylor Dent. In the last 16, he played former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, where he lost the match in three sets. After losing the opener on a tie-break, Murray won the second on a tie-break, but the onset of cramp and an ankle injury sealed the match 7–6, 6–7, 7–5.
Following his performance at Queen's, Murray received a wild card for Wimbledon. Ranked 312, he defeated George Bastl and 14th seed Radek Štěpánek in the opening two rounds, in straight sets, thereby becoming the first Scot in the open era to reach the third round of the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon. In the third round, Murray played 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian, and lost 7–6, 6–1, 0–6, 4–6, 1–6. Murray competed in the debut edition of the Aberdeen Cup to finish his year. He faced Greg Rusedski twice, losing the first match in straight sets,then coming back the next day to edge the match on a champions tie-breaker.
Andy Murray in 2006
Getting his season under way at the Adelaide International, Murray won his opening match of 2006 against Paolo Lorenzi in three sets before bowing out to Tomáš Berdych. Murray's season then moved to Auckland where he beat Kenneth Carlsen. Murray then lost three matches in a row to Marin Čilić, Juan Ignacio Chela at the Australian Open and Ivan Ljubičić in Zagreb. Murray arrested the situation to beat Mardy Fish in straight sets when the tour came to San Jose, California; going on to win his first ATP title, the SAP Open, defeating world No. 11 Lleyton Hewitt in the final. He triumphed over Jimmy Wang and Robin Söderling before his first win over a top-ten player, Andy Roddick, the world No. 3, to reach his second ATP final, which he won. Murray backed this up with a quarter-final appearance in Memphis, beating Rainer Schüttler and Rik de Voest before falling to Söderling.
Murray won just three times between the end of February and the middle of June, losing to Tommy Robredo in Las Vegas in a first-round exit, beating Vasilis Mazarakis and losing to Nikolay Davydenko at Indian Wells. First-round exits in Miami and Monte Carlo then followed to Stanislas Wawrinka and Jean-René Lisnard. He progressed past Marcel Granollers in Barcelona before losing to David Ferrer. A first-round loss to local boy Filippo Volandri in Rome followed, before a win in Hamburg against Gaël Monfils. Defeats to James Blake at Hamburg, Monfils at the French Open, in five sets, and Janko Tipsarević at Queen's followed. After the French Open, where Murray was injured again, he revealed that his bones hadn't fully grown, causing him to suffer from cramps and back problems.
At the Nottingham Open Murray recorded consecutive wins for the first time since Memphis, with wins over Dmitry Tursunov and Max Mirnyi before bowing out to Andreas Seppi in the quarter-finals. He progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, beating Nicolás Massú, Julien Benneteau and Roddick, before succumbing in the last 16 to Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis. Murray reached the semi-finals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships defeating Ricardo Mello and Sam Querrey and Robert Kendrick, with his first ever main tour whitewash (also known as a double bagel). He exited in the semis to Justin Gimelstob. Murray then won a Davis Cup rubber against Andy Ram coming back from two sets down, but lost the doubles alongside Jamie Delgado after being 2 sets to 1 up. The tie was over before Murray could play the deciding rubber. Murray ended the year ranked 17th, his career best to that point. Murray finished the year by participating in the Aberdeen Cup for Scotland. Murray won both his matches against Greg Rusedski, edging the first match 6–4 in the final set before winning in straight sets in a second match the next day. Murray was unhappy, though, with the court being slippery and the linespeople being too close, citing that he could have twisted his ankle, due to a persistent ankle injury first sustained at Queen's the year before.
Andy Murray in 2007
In November Murray split with his coach Brad Gilbert and added a team of experts along with Miles Maclagan, his main coach. Ahead of the first event of the season Murray signed a sponsorship deal with Highland Spring worth £1m. It was reportedly the biggest shirt-sponsorship deal in tennis. The season started well for Murray as he reached the final of the Qatar Open. He defeated Filippo Volandri, Christophe Rochus, Max Mirnyi and Nikolay Davydenko, before falling to Ivan Ljubičić in straight sets. Murray reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. After defeating Alberto Martín for the loss of one game, then beating Fernando Verdasco and Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets, in the round of 16 Murray lost a five-set match against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6. He then successfully defended his San Jose title, defeating Kevin Kim, Kristian Pless, Hyung-Taik Lee, Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlović to retain the tournament.
Murray then made the semi-finals of his next three tournaments. Making the semis in Memphis, he defeated Frank Dancevic, Pless and Stefan Koubek before a reverse to Roddick. In Indian Wells, Murray won against Wesley Moodie, Nicolas Mahut, Davydenko and Tommy Haas before falling to Novak Djokovic. At Miami, Murray was victorious against Paul Goldstein, Robert Kendrick, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Roddick, before going down to Djokovic for the second tournament running.
Before the clay season Murray defeated Raemon Sluiter in the Davis Cup to help Britain win the tie. In his first tournament in Rome, Murray lost in the first round to Gilles Simon in three sets. In Hamburg, Murray played Volandri first up. In the first set, Murray was 5–1 when he hit a forehand from the back of the court and snapped the tendons in his wrist.
Murray missed a large part of the season including the French Open and Wimbledon.[66] He returned at the Rogers Cup in Canada. In his first match he defeated Robby Ginepri in straight sets before bowing out to Fabio Fognini. At the Cincinnati Masters Murray drew Marcos Baghdatis in the first round and won only three games. At the US Open Murray beat Pablo Cuevas in straight sets before edging out Jonas Björkman in a five-setter. Murray lost in the third round to Lee in four sets.
Andy Murray in 2008
Murray re-entered the top-ten rankings early in 2008, winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with wins over Olivier Rochus, Rainer Schüttler, Thomas Johansson, Nikolay Davydenko and Stanislas Wawrinka for the title. He was the ninth seed at the Australian Open but was defeated by eventual runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.
Murray took his second title of the year at the Open 13 after beating Jesse Huta Galung, Wawrinka, Nicolas Mahut, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Marin Čilić. But Murray exited to Robin Haase in straight sets in Rotterdam. In Dubai Murray defeated Roger Federer in three sets before doing the same to Fernando Verdasco and falling short against Davydenko. At Indian Wells Murray defeated Jürgen Melzer and Ivo Karlović in three sets and crashed out to Tommy Haas, before a first-match exit to Mario Ančić in Miami.
On the clay courts in Monte Carlo Murray defeated Feliciano López and Filippo Volandri before winning just four games against Novak Djokovic. Ančić then handed Murray another first-match defeat in Barcelona. In Rome Murray first played Juan Martín del Potro in an ill-tempered three-set match. Murray won his first match in Rome when Del Potro retired with an injury. Murray was warned for bad language and there was disagreement between the two players where Murray claimed that Del Potro insulted his mother, who was in the crowd, and deliberately aimed a ball at his head. In the next round Murray lost in straight sets to Wawrinka. In his last tournament before the French Open Murray participated in Hamburg. He defeated Dmitry Tursunov and Gilles Simon before a defeat against Rafael Nadal. At Roland Garros he overcame local boy Jonathan Eysseric in five sets and clay-courter José Acasuso, where he lost just four games. He ended the tournament after a defeat by Nicolás Almagro in four sets in the third round. In his first tournament after Wimbledon, the Rogers Cup, Murray defeated Johansson, Wawrinka and Djokovic before losing to Nadal in the semi-finals. The Nadal loss was Murray's last defeat in ATP events for three months. In Cincinnati Murray went one better than in Canada as he reached his first ATP Masters Series final. He beat Sam Querrey, Tursunov, Carlos Moyá and Karlovic to make the final. Murray showed no signs of nerves as on debut he won his first Masters Shield, defeating Djokovic in two tie-breakers. At the Olympics, which is ITF organised, Murray was dumped out in round one by Yen-Hsun Lu,citing a lack of professionalism on his part. Now at No. 4 in the world, Murray qualified for the first time for the Masters Cup. He beat Roddick in three sets, before the American withdrew from the competition. This was followed by a win over Simon to qualify for the semi-finals. In his final group match against Federer, Murray defeated him in three sets. In the semi-final Murray faced Davydenko, but after leaving it all on the court against Federer, Murray succumbed to the Russian in straight sets.
Murray ended 2008 ranked fourth in the world.
Andy Murray in 2009
Murray began 2009 by beating James Blake, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He followed this with a successful defence of his title at the Qatar Open in Doha, where he beat Albert Montañés, Philipp Petzschner and Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets before beating Federer again, 6–7, 6–2, 6–2. He defeated Andy Roddick in straight sets to win the final. Seeded fourth at the Australian Open, Murray made it to the fourth round, after winning against Andrei Pavel, Marcel Granollers, and Jürgen Melzer in straight sets, before losing to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round. After the loss to Verdasco, Murray was delayed from going home as he was found to be suffering from a virus.
He won his eleventh career title at Rotterdam, beating Ivan Ljubičić and Andreas Seppi in straight sets, but dropping a set before Marc Gicquel pulled out injured. Murray reached the final with a win over Mario Ančić for the loss of just three games. In the final he faced the world No. 1, Nadal, defeating him in the third set. But an injury in the semi-final forced his withdrawal from the Marseille Open, which he had won in 2008.
Returning from injury, Murray went to Dubai and reached the quarter-finals after a three-set win over Stakhovsky followed by a straight-sets win over Arnaud Clément. He withdrew before the quarter-finals with a re-occurrence of the virus that had affected him at the Australian Open. The virus caused Murray to miss a Davis Cup tie in Glasgow.
Returning from the virus Murray made it to the final at Indian Wells. He defeated Montanes, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Tommy Robredo and Ljubicic in straight sets before winning his semi-final in three sets against Federer. He lost in the final against Nadal, winning just three games in windy conditions. In Miami Murray beat Juan Mónaco, Nicolás Massú, Viktor Troicki, Verdasco and Juan Martín del Potro to reach the final where he defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Murray got his clay season underway at the Monte Carlo Masters. He reached the semi-finals after beating Victor Hănescu, Fabio Fognini and Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets before losing to Nadal, 6–2, 7–6. Murray then moved to the Rome Masters, where he lost in the second round, after a first-round bye, to Monaco in three sets. Despite this on 11 May 2009, he achieved the highest ever ranking of a British male in the open era when he became world No. 3. Murray celebrated this achievement by trying to defend his Madrid Masters title which had switched surfaces from hard to clay. He reached the quarter-finals after beating Simone Bolelli and Robredo in straight sets before losing to Del Potro. Murray reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 French Open but was defeated by Fernando González in four sets, after defeating Juan Ignacio Chela, Potito Starace, Janko Tipsarević and Čilić to reach the quarters.
Murray won at Queen's, without dropping a set, becoming the first British winner of the tournament since 1938. He beat Seppi, Guillermo García-López, Mardy Fish, Juan Carlos Ferrero and James Blake on route to the title. This was Murray's first tournament win on grass and his first ATP title in Britain. Murray returned to the tour in Valencia, where he won his sixth and final tournament of the year, beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Leonardo Mayer, Montanes, Verdasco and Mikhail Youzhny to claim the title. In the final Masters event of 2009, in Paris, Murray beat Blake in three sets before losing to Stepanek in 3. At the World Tour Finals in London, Murray started well by beating Del Potro in three sets, before losing a three-set match to Federer. He won his next match against Verdasco but because Murray, Federer and Del Potro all ended up on equal wins and sets, it came down to game percentage and Murray was squeezed out by a game, bringing an end to his 2009 season.
Andy Murray in 2010
Murray was seeded fifth in the Australian Open following his decision not to play Doha, losing the ranking to Juan Martín del Potro. He progressed through his opening few matches in straight sets to set up a quarter-final clash with the world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Murray led 6–3, 7–6, 3–0 before the Spaniard had to retire with a torn quadriceps. He became the first British man to reach more than one Grand Slam final in 72 years, after recovering from a set down to beat Croatia's Marin Čilić in the semi-finals. In the final he lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets.
After pulling out of the Open 13 event in Marseille, Murray returned to action in Dubai. He was defeated in the second round, by Janko Tipsarević of Serbia 7–6, 4–6, 6–4. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray defeated Nicolás Almagro, who retired at the end of the first set, to advance to the quarter-finals. However, he was defeated by Robin Söderling, losing 1–6, 6–7, despite saving three match points and coming 2 points away from forcing a decider. Murray next played at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, but had an early exit in a match with Mardy Fish, 6–4, 6–4 in his opening round (after receiving a bye in the first round). He said following the defeat that his mind hadn't been fully on tennis. He consequently lost his No. 3 ranking to Nadal.
Switching attention to clay, Murray requested a wild card for Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to prevent him losing his No. 4 ranking to del Potro.[citation needed] He suffered another early exit, this time to Philipp Kohlschreiber 6–2, 6–1 in the second round. He also entered the doubles competition with Ross Hutchins and defeated world No. 10 doubles team Cermak and Meritmak, before losing to the Bryan Brothers on a champions tie-breaker. He then went on to reach the third round in the Rome Masters 1000 where he lost to David Ferrer in straight sets, after beating Seppi and ending a three-match losing streak. At the Madrid Masters he reached the quarter-finals, beating Juan Ignacio Chela and Victor Hanescu along the way. He subsequently lost to Ferrer again in a closely fought battle with the final score 7–5, 6–3. Murray completed his preparations for the second slam of the year by defeating Fish in an exhibition match 11–9 in a champions tie-breaker. At the second slam of the year, the French Open, Murray was drawn in the first round against Richard Gasquet. Murray battled back from two sets down to win in the final set. Due to bad weather, it then took four sets and two days to see off Chela. Starting the US hard-court season with the 2010 Farmers Classic, Murray reached the final. Murray struggled with his serve as it dropped to just 42% for first serves in, in his opening two matches, as he beat Tim Smyczek and Alejandro Falla. Murray then edged Feliciano López in the semi-final. During the semi-final, whilst commentating for ESPN, Cahill appeared to rule himself out of becoming Murray's next coach. In Murray's first final since the Australian Open, he lost against Sam Querrey 7–5, 6–7, 3–6. This was his first loss to Querrey in five career meetings and the first time he had lost a set against the American. Murray said after the match on the issue; "I don't ever request really when to play. I don't make many demands at all during the tournaments." The reason given for turning down Murray's request was that Fish was playing doubles on which Murray commented "I'm not sure, the way the tennis works, I don't think matches should be scheduled around the doubles because it's the singles that's on the TV." Murray had no option but to play at midday again with temperatures reaching 33 °C in the shade. Murray won the first set on a tie-breaker but after going inside for a toilet break began to feel ill, and the doctor was called on court to actively cool Murray down. Murray admitted after the match that he had considered retiring. Murray lost the second set but dug in to force a final set tie-breaker before Fish won. At the US Open Murray started against Slovak Lukáš Lacko in searing heat. Murray won in straight sets and there were no signs of the problems that had affected him in Cincinnati. Murray played Dustin Brown in the second round and, after a small rain delay, won the match in straight sets. In the third round Murray played Stanislas Wawrinka and bowed out of the tournament losing in four sets. However questions about Murray's conditioning arose as he called the trainer out twice during the match.
His next event was the China Open in Beijing where he opened with a first-round victory against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets. In the second round he continued through the tournament with a 7–5, 6–3 win over the Spaniard Albert Montañés. Murray reached the quarter-finals where he met Croatian Ivan Ljubicic and lost in straight sets.
At the Shanghai Rolex Masters Murray opened against Chinese wild-card entrant Bai Yan and advanced to the next round in a quick straight-sets win, losing just four games. In the third round he faced Jérémy Chardy and won in straight sets to book his place at the tour finals. In the quarter-finals his opponent was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Murray took just 55 minutes and 6–2, 6–2 to move into the semi-finals. Murray then faced David Ferrer in his last group match. Murray lost the first two games but came back to take six in a row to win the set 6–2 and to qualify for the semi-finals. Murray closed out the match with a 6–2 second set to finish the group stage with a win before facing Nadal in the semi-final. In the semi-final Murray battled Nadal for over three hours before falling to the Spaniard in a final set tie-breaker, bringing an end to his season.
Andy Murray in 2011
Murray started 2011 ranked as the world number four, before Robin Söderling demoted him to world number five. The first matches he played were alongside fellow Brit Laura Robson in the 2011 Hopman Cup. They did not make it past the round-robin stage, losing all three ties against Italy, France, and the USA. Despite losing all three ties, Murray won all of his singles matches. He beat Potito Starace of Italy, Nicolas Mahut of France, and John Isner of the United States. Murray, along with other stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, participated in the Rally for Relief event to help raise money for the flood victims in Queensland.
Seeded fifth in the Australian Open, Murray began with a straightforward victory over world number 103 Karol Beck in the first round and followed with a straight-sets victory over Illya Marchenko in round 2. In round 3, Murray progressed by beating Spaniard Guillermo García-López and followed with a victory over the number 11 seed Jürgen Melzer. Murray then defeated unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the quarterfinals, dropping a set for the first time in the tournament. He then went on to defeat 7th seed David Ferrer in the semi-finals, 4–6, 7–6, 6–1, 7–6. He met former champion Novak Djokovic in the final and was defeated 6–4, 6–2, 6–3.
Murray made a quick return, participating at Rotterdam, an ATP 500 tournament as the second seed. He was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis in the first round in straight sets 6–4 6–1. This was the cause of a wrist injury. He reached the semifinals of the doubles tournament with his brother Jamie. Because of the injury, Murray decided to withdraw from the Dubai. Murray then participated at the first Masters Series tournament of the year in Indian Wells. Seeded fifth, he lost in a second-round match against American qualifier Donald Young 6–7, 3–6, but reached the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament with his brother. His poor form continued with a straight-sets loss in Miami to another American qualifier, Alex Bogomolov Jr. He also lost in the first round of the doubles tournament, partnered with Novak Djokovic. Despite this loss of form Murray returned to number four in the world, due to Robin Söderling's early exit from Miami.
After Miami, Murray split with Àlex Corretja who was his coach at the time.
At the 2011 French Open, Murray faced French qualifier Eric Prodon in the first round, who he defeated in straight sets, 6–4, 6–1, 6–3. He then went on to beat Simone Bolelli, 7–6, 6–4, 7–5 to progress into the third round. Despite an injury halfway through his third round match against German, Michael Berrer, he won 6–2, 6–3, 6–2.[citation needed] Murray face 15th seed Viktor Troicki in the fourth round, losing the first two sets 4–6, 4–6, but fought back and won the next two 6–3, 6–2 before the match was suspended due to darkness. The next day he won the final set 7–5 after trailing 2–5. He went on to beat Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets to move into the semi-final stage, the first time at Roland Garros, against Rafael Nadal, which he lost in straight sets, 4–6, 5–7, 4–6.
On 11 June, Murray played Andy Roddick in the semi-final of the 2011 AEGON Championships, which Murray won in straight sets 6–3, 6–1. Murray went on to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the final, which was played on 13 June 2011.
At Wimbledon, Murray defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver from Spain 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–0. In the second round, he made easy work of Germany's Tobias Kamke, winning in straight sets 6–3, 6–3, 7–5. His third-round opponent, former world number three Ivan Ljubicic, presented a more challenging obstacle, but Murray was able to win 6–4, 4–6, 6–1, 7–6. Three days later Murray defeated France's Richard Gasquet for the third consecutive time at a grand slam event in straight sets 7–6, 6–3, 6–2, and then beat Feliciano Lopez 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 to reach his third consecutive semi-final at Wimbledon. He lost in the semifinal to Rafael Nadal 7–5, 2–6, 2–6, 4–6.
At the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Luxembourg, Murray lead the British team to victory as he sealed a 3–1 lead by defeating Gilles Muller in straight sets 6–4, 6–3, 6–1. James Ward went on to secure a 4–1 lead as he defeated Mike Vermeer in the last rubber round match.
Murray was a two-time defending champion for the 2011 Rogers Cup but lost his first match, in the second round, to South African Kevin Anderson. However the following week, he won the 2011 Western & Southern Open beating Novak Djokovic 6–4, 3–0 (ret), with Djokovic forced to retire through injury.
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