Things other than tennis balls came to a head on Centre Court at Wimbledon today, as Andy Murray called himself a ‘wee bastard’ in a heated on-court exchange with himself.
While Murray dispatched with the sometimes volatile, at other times perfectly amiable young Australian Nick Kyrgios in straight sets, a tough opener saw a resurgence of the sort of on-court anger which occasionally besets Murray’s otherwise accomplished game.
After he and his former coach Amélie Mauresmo went their separate ways in May, Murray took the time to reflect on his attitude, admitting that he was seeking to find the right balance between dull silence and emotional outbursts with the volume pumped up.
He said that he sometimes felt ’embarrassed’ watching himself back on the TV, but spoke too of the pressure involved in having to maintain a standard as one of best players ever to have picked up a racket and put on a white pair of shorts. And things had seemed to be improving, especially after the return of Ivan Lendl to his already competent coaching staff.
Murray continues to show less aggression towards the coaches, friends, and family members who make up his player’s box. But today the fury turned inwards, as Murray repeatedly berated himself after screwing wide on break point, first muttering ‘Yer damned idiot!’, before unleashing an obscene tirade as he spurned yet another makeable shot.
One spectator in the front row thought Murray’s remarks ‘unacceptable’, saying ‘This is supposed to be family-friendly entertainment in which the plucky British underdog always wins’. Another onlooker, a suave gentleman who emerged snootily from the Royal Box, said ‘You can put the Scot in the Shire, but you can’t put the Shire into the Scot’. It was unclear what Shire the gentleman was referring to, but it is undoubtedly very posh.
Challenged by the chair umpire, Murray took his comments back partially, noting that he is certainly not ‘wee’, standing 6 feet and 3 inches tall. But ‘I sure am a bastard!’, he shouted, as he lashed another supreme return past his floundering opponent, one of the greatest shots ever to have graced the sport.
