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.
