Wednesday, November 25, 2009

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.