Donathan Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 36 minutes ago, paul-r-cfc said: My first memory of Murray is being told he had won at Wimbledon in 2005 while I was out with pals by a man who has long since died. It's been a long time! I remember seeing a short piece on Reporting Scotland c.2004 about how a young lad from Dunblane was ranked 2nd in the world in juniors and then forgetting about him for a bit then seeing him demolish some random jobber in his first match at Wimbledon before facing the 14th seed Radek Stepanek in round 2. Before that match against Stepanek, Murray was interviewed on BBC and said something along the lines of "Playing against such a highly ranked player will be great development opportunity for me, but I'm of course expecting to lose the match" before coming out and demolishing him in straight sets. That 3rd round match with Nalbandian is one which will live long in the memory. I was only 10 years old then and I'm well into my mid-twenties now. I've literally grown up watching Andy Murray. It's nearly over now but I think I'll struggle to hold back the tears when he finally calls time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sophia Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 3 minutes ago, Chapelhall chap said: Never knew there was an Andy Murray thread until tonight. Absorbing and frustrating in so many different ways this was a supreme effort by the guy. Despite me swearing more tonight than in any of the Euro matches I was desperately wanting him to win and I am delighted. Well done Andy. Can I watch another such contest on Friday -you bet! He could start at the same time as Switzerland v Spain and still be playing after Belgium v Italy complete their game. Whatever happens, I'm glad to be witnessing such a remarkable talent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingjoey Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 The amount of times that I’ve sent texts to mates saying that “there is no way that Andy Murray can win this match” over the past however many years, defies belief. I did it again tonight when he lost the third set, then struggled slightly at the very start of the fourth until the roof shut. What a tennis player. What a fighter. Brilliant stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Back Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 1 hour ago, sophia said: He could start at the same time as Switzerland v Spain and still be playing after Belgium v Italy complete their game. Whatever happens, I'm glad to be witnessing such a remarkable talent. Will be watching Andy over either of those two. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurkst Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 9 hours ago, paul-r-cfc said: My first memory of Murray is being told he had won at Wimbledon in 2005 while I was out with pals by a man who has long since died. It's been a long time! I was in a previous job working in Bratislava. My boss in Glasgow rang me on my Nokia 3410 just to say "have you seen this Scottish boy at Wimbledon?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Highlights for me, summer of 2012 bouncing back from another crushing slam final defeat to take Olympic gold and the US open. Winning Wimbledon in 2013 and the crowd going wild like a football crowd. Davis cup in 2015. Everything about that 2016 year from winning Wimbledon and the olympics again to absolutely dominating the second half of the year and getting world number 1. I think the biggest regret for me is that he’s never won the Australian open despite so many runs to the semis and final. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeTillEhDeh Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 I remember seeing a short piece on Reporting Scotland c.2004 about how a young lad from Dunblane was ranked 2nd in the world in juniors and then forgetting about him for a bit then seeing him demolish some random jobber in his first match at Wimbledon before facing the 14th seed Radek Stepanek in round 2. Before that match against Stepanek, Murray was interviewed on BBC and said something along the lines of "Playing against such a highly ranked player will be great development opportunity for me, but I'm of course expecting to lose the match" before coming out and demolishing him in straight sets. That 3rd round match with Nalbandian is one which will live long in the memory. I was only 10 years old then and I'm well into my mid-twenties now. I've literally grown up watching Andy Murray. It's nearly over now but I think I'll struggle to hold back the tears when he finally calls time.I looked back at both games and was reminded how much tennis has changed - a serve and volleyer like Stepanek would not survive in the modern game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuits Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Well I never thought I’d see that again. Andy charging around the Centre Court, screaming like a mad man. Frustrating us with easy misses then playing absolutely world class winners.He’s an absolute legend - right up there with Chris Hoy in my eyes when it comes to Scottish sporting greats. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Missed this last night, he never does it the easy way does he? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Murray for me is easily the best Scottish sportsman of all time, in fact, you could probably split his career in half (2005-2012, 2013-2021) and both halves would have an argument for the best Scottish sportsman of all time in their own right. That's absolutely mental. Bigger argument for me is whether or not he's the best British sportsman of all time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Murray for me is easily the best Scottish sportsman of all time, in fact, you could probably split his career in half (2005-2012, 2013-2021) and both halves would have an argument for the best Scottish sportsman of all time in their own right. That's absolutely mental. Bigger argument for me is whether or not he's the best British sportsman of all time.Definitely the best British of all time for me. Who could be ahead of him? Steve Redgrave?? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 :bounce3Round the English media [emoji3]My first post on this thread from October 2005 [emoji28] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 He's obviously the best Scottish sportsperson of all time. That's not up for debate. People who champion Hoy, Hendry, Dalglish etc are confirmed morons. There's definitely grounds for him be best British sportsperson of all time too. To achieve what he's done in the golden era of tennis is ridiculous. No other British sportsperson has been under as much pressure and scrutiny as him, whilst having to deal with the 3 greatest male players ever in his sport. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Highlights for me, summer of 2012 bouncing back from another crushing slam final defeat to take Olympic gold and the US open. Winning Wimbledon in 2013 and the crowd going wild like a football crowd. Davis cup in 2015. Everything about that 2016 year from winning Wimbledon and the olympics again to absolutely dominating the second half of the year and getting world number 1. I think the biggest regret for me is that he’s never won the Australian open despite so many runs to the semis and final. Ultimately that second half of 2016 and his relentless pursuit of the number one spot destroyed him physically imo. Shapovalov should be a step too far, but with Andy showing all his fighting qualities again then who knows. At least he acknowledged in his interview that he was making the wrong shot choices down to the lack of matches, hopefully something he can remember for tomorrow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggyness Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 This is the dreamer of me I freely admit, but I think he'll beat Shapovalov before losing in the 2nd week, just a gut feeling. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StewartyMac Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, jaggyness said: This is the dreamer of me I freely admit, but I think he'll beat Shapovalov before losing in the 2nd week, just a gut feeling. Canny see it, Shapovalov is totally fresh after a bye, Murray will do well to even last three sets. Mind you, it's Andy Murray, anything is possible. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 (edited) I think from a technical standpoint Murray is still a very good player, unfortunately just doesn’t have the body to compete over 5 sets anymore. We could still see a decent amount of success in tournaments that use the shorter 3 set format. He’s a bit unlucky he wasn’t born 10 years later to be honest because I’m convinced that had his contemporaries been guys like Zverev, Thiem and Tsitsipas rather than Djokovic, Federer and Nadal then we’d be looking at double digit grand slams, but he just had the bad luck that his prime came right in the middle of the strongest era of the sport. Edited July 1, 2021 by Donathan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Lex said: Definitely the best British of all time for me. Who could be ahead of him? Steve Redgrave?? 43 minutes ago, TheScarf said: He's obviously the best Scottish sportsperson of all time. That's not up for debate. People who champion Hoy, Hendry, Dalglish etc are confirmed morons. There's definitely grounds for him be best British sportsperson of all time too. To achieve what he's done in the golden era of tennis is ridiculous. No other British sportsperson has been under as much pressure and scrutiny as him, whilst having to deal with the 3 greatest male players ever in his sport. Lewis Hamilton is the one who springs to mind as a very successful British sportsman recently. I’d still put Murray ahead of him and Redgrave to be honest. The only other British sportsman you could really make an argument for would be Max Woosnam, and that’s purely on the grounds of versatility: - Won gold in the men’s doubles and silver in the mixed doubles at the 1920 Antwerp olympics - Wimbledon men’s doubles winner 1921 - Played competitive cricket and Lord’s and made a century - Played off scratch at golf - Played Charlie Chaplain at table tennis and beat him using a butter knife instead of a paddle - Made a maximum 147 break in snooker - Very successful professional football career including captaining both Man City and the England national team - Captained the GB Davis Cup team 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 7 minutes ago, Donathan said: I think from a technical standpoint Murray is still a very good player, unfortunately just doesn’t have the body to compete over 5 sets anymore. We could still see a decent amount of success in tournaments that use the shorter 3 set format. He’s a bit unlucky he wasn’t born 10 years later to be honest because I’m convinced that had his contemporaries been guys like Zverev, Thiem and Tsitsipas rather than Djokovic, Federer and Nadal then we’d be looking at double digit grand slams, but he just had the bad luck that his prime came right in the middle of the strongest era of the sport. There's absolutely doubt 10+ would be the case if he was born in 1997. The big 3, all in their mid to late 30's still beat these guys regularly and with little fuss most of the time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggyness Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Canny see it, Shapovalov is totally fresh after a bye, Murray will do well to even last three sets. Mind you, it's Andy Murray, anything is possible. I don't think the rest will have made a huge difference to Shapovalov. Had it been the other way round it would have made a huge difference to Andy. Playing one match then having 4 off as opposed to 2 won't have had a massive impact on someone in their early 20s and ranked top 15 in the world 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.