Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Andy Murray :Style

Junior tennis:
Murray first picked up a tennis racquet when he was two years old, and was soon playing with his older brother
Jamie. Leon Smith, Murray's tennis coach from 11 to 17, said he'd never seen a five-year-old like Murray, describing him as "unbelievably competitive". Murray attributes his abilities to the motivation gained from losing to Jamie, who had been the second-best junior player in the world. 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 the Orange Bowl, a prestigious event for under-12s. He briefly moved away from tennis, turning towards football instead, but soon reverted.
When playing against
Rafael Nadal, who was a year older than Murray, he found out Nadal was training with Carlos Moyà, the world number one. Murray was angry that he had only his brother to practice with, so when he was 15 he moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he attended the Schiller International School and trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy. Murray described this as "a big sacrifice to move away from your family, and spend money training over there when you're not making any back". His schoolwork was also sacrificed during this period and he left without qualifications. While in Spain he trained with Emilio Sánchez, formerly the world number one doubles player. In September 2004, he won the junior US Open and was selected for the Davis Cup match against Austria later that month. Later that year, he won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Playing style and equipment:
Murray is best described as a defensive counterpuncher, with professional tennis coach
Paul Annacone citing that Murray "may be the best counterpuncher on tour today." His greatest strengths include solid groundstrokes with low error rate, the uncanny ability to anticipate and react, and his transition from defense to offense with extraordinary speed which enables him to hit winners from defensive positions. Murray's tactics usually involve passive exchanges from the baseline, usually waiting for an unforced error. He is also capable of injecting sudden pace to his groundstrokes to surprise his opponents who are used to the slow rally. Murray is also known for being one of the most intelligent tacticians on the court, often constructing points. One of his greatest strengths, however, is his first serve.
Early in his career, most of his main tour wins came on
hard courts. However, he claimed to prefer clay courts, because of his training in Barcelona as a junior player.
As for his equipment, he is sponsored by
Head for his racquets and uses the new Head Youtek Radical Pro. He wears Fred Perry apparel until in late 2009, Andy Murray signed with adidas and will be wearing their equipments in the 2010 season. In 2009, he is endorsed by both adidas and Nike for his shoes; wearing adidas shoes for hard courts and Nike shoes for clay and grass courts.
National identity:
Murray identifies himself as "Scottish, but also British". Prior to
Wimbledon 2006, Murray caused some public debate when he was quoted as saying he would "support anyone but England" at the 2006 World Cup. He received large amounts of hate mail on his website as a result. It was also reported (incorrectly, it turned out) that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt on the day of England's World Cup match with the South American team.
Murray explained that his comments were said in jest during a light-hearted interview with sports columnist
Des Kelly, who asked him if he would be supporting Scotland in the World Cup, in the knowledge that Scotland had failed to qualify for the tournament. Kelly stated another tabloid had later "lifted a couple of them [comments] into a 'story' that took on a life of its own and from there the truth was lost" and that he despaired over the "nonsensical criticism".
Murray protested that he is "not anti-English and never was" and he expressed disappointment over England's subsequent elimination by Portugal. In an interview with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, Tim Henman confirmed that the remarks had been made in jest and were only in response to Murray being teased by Kelly and Henman. He also stated that the rumour that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt was untrue.
In an interview with
Gabby Logan for the BBC's Inside Sport programme, Murray said that he was both Scottish and British and was comfortable and happy with his British identity. He said he saw no conflict between the two and was equally proud of them. He has also pointed out that he is quarter English with some of his family originating from Newcastle, his coach is Scottish and that his girlfriend, Kim Sears, is English.

Andy Murray :Biography

Name: Andrew "Andy" Murray
Country: Great Britain
Residence: London, United Kingdom
Date of birth: 15 May 1987 (1987-05-15) (age 22)
Place of birth:
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Height: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight: 84 kg (190 lb; 13.2 st)
Turned pro: 2005
Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
Career prize money:
US$9,117,556
Singles
Career record: 219–75 (74.5%)
Career titles: 14
Highest ranking: No. 2 (August 17, 2009)
Current ranking: No. 4 (November 9, 2009)
Grand Slam results:
Australian Open: 4R (2007, 2009)
French Open: QF (2009)
Wimbledon: SF (2009)
US Open: F (2008)
Major tournaments
Tour Finals: SF (2008)
Olympic Games: 1R (2008)
Doubles
Career record: 23–38
Career titles: 0
Highest ranking: No. 89 (2 April 2007)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open: 1R (2006)
French Open: 2R (2006)
Wimbledon: 1R (2005)
US Open: 2R (2008)

Andrew "Andy" Murray (born May 15, 1987) is a
Scottish professional tennis player. He is ranked World No. 4, the highest-ranked British player since Fred Perry. Murray previously held the No. 2 ranking position for two weeks, from August 17, 2009 to August 31, 2009, during which time he failed to progress beyond the fourth round of the 2009 U.S. Open and fell back to No. 3. Murray achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on April 16, 2007. In 2008, he finished runner-up to Roger Federer at the US Open.
In 2005, Murray won the
BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year Award and the sport section of the Top Scot awards. 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, along with Miles Maclagan acting as his main coach. He was previously coached by American Brad Gilbert, who used to coach former World No. 1 players Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.

Personal life:
Andy Murray was born to Willie and Judy in Glasgow, Scotland. His maternal grandfather Roy Erskine was a professional footballer who played reserve team matches for Hibernian and senior football for Stirling Albion; His 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. Murray attended Dunblane Primary School, where he experienced the Dunblane Massacre of 1996. Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people, mostly children who were in a younger age group than Murray, before turning one of his four guns on himself. Murray himself 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 him rides in her car. Murray went on to attend Dunblane High School. Following the separation of his parents when he was aged nine, Murray and his brother lived with their father.
Murray has dated Kim Sears, daughter of Nigel Sears, former tennis coach of the Slovak player Daniela Hantuchová, since 2006. The couple live in Surrey. Kim Sears grew up in the village of Barcombe, West Sussex, with her younger brother Scott. Before meeting Andy Murray she was a student at the public school, Burgess Hill School, where she had received A-levels. The couple first met at the U.S. Open in September 2005.
Murray supports two professional
football teams. As a result of his grandfather playing for Hibernian, Murray supports them as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers due to the influence of Great Britain's Davis Cup Captain John Lloyd (a noted Wolves fan himself). Murray is often seen wearing the Wolves shirt that was presented to him by Lloyd.