In a quiet corner of the peaceful town of Dunblane in central Scotland stands the unassuming tennis club that launched Andy Murray on the path to Wimbledon glory.
Photographs of the star, preparing for his final appearance at the All England Club, are on display in a corner of the humble clubhouse at Dunblane Sports Club and his name is etched on several trophies.
Andy’s brother, Jamie Murray, a doubles specialist, also features and his mother, Judy, is on the honors board along with his grandparents Roy and Shirley Erskine.
Photo: AFP
The monuments to Andy Murray in the town itself are low-key — there is a gold post box in recognition of his Olympic singles triumph in 2012 next to a wooden bench to mark his first Wimbledon title the following year. It is in keeping with the unflashy character of a man who went toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in arguably the greatest-ever era in men’s tennis, winning three Grand Slams.
As he prepares for his final Wimbledon, where he is a two-time champion, those at the club cannot speak highly enough of their most famous export.
“He’s just a film star here, everyone loves him,” head coach Mark Walker said. “Whenever he comes here it’s always so busy, and all the places are full and they follow him everywhere.”
Photo: AFP
“There was an example where he came once to our summer camp. He was obviously visiting granny up the road there, and he just came down and wandered down and then came on the court and just said: ‘I’m here to hit with all the kids.’ And he made sure to hit with all the kids,” Walker said.
Andy Murray, 37, left Dunblane, a town of about 9,000 people, as a teenager to further his career in Spain, but has never cut ties with his home town, which is about 65km from Edinburgh. He was married in Dunblane Cathedral and owns a hotel just up the road. His grandparents still live a stone’s throw from the tennis club.
“The family have been involved for 50 years — there’s been a connection with this club, which is really nice,” said Sandy Fleming, one of the coaches at the club.
Dunblane Sports Club, which has four artificial clay courts and two mini-courts, has about 500 members, half of whom are youngsters. One of the more recent players off the production line is Ali Collins, who played doubles at Wimbledon last year.
“You walk up here and you don’t think this is a place of champions,” Fleming said.
Membership secretary Emma Morson said Andy Murray’s success has changed the narrative about Dunblane, which made global headlines in 1996 when a shooter killed 16 children and a teacher at the school attended by Andy Murray and his brother.
“Before, Dunblane was only ever known for one thing and it wasn’t a positive, so to have such a massively positive thing to represent is amazing,” she said.
Her 12-year-old son, Alex Morson, who shares the same initials as Andy Murray, wants to follow in his icon’s footsteps.
“They [Andy and Jamie Murray] come down quite regularly,” he said. “They come down and they play with all the kids and everyone surrounds Andy, everyone knows him, even little ones.”
He said he would miss Andy Murray when he hangs up his racquet, with the Scot targeting the Paris Olympics — and a third singles gold — as his final act.
“When you go to watch Grand Slams you won’t have that excitement of knowing you are going to watch someone who grew up and played where you are playing right now,” he said. “That will probably be the worst part of it.”
Murray, who has been plagued with injuries in the past few years, last week had an operation on a spinal cyst, putting his participation in Wimbledon, beginning today, in severe doubt.
Yet he is in the draw — due to face Czech player Tomas Machac in the first round — and is set to team up with his brother in the doubles.
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