WHAT ANDY MURRAY HAS DONE FOR BRITISH TENNIS BY CHERYL SHRUM

Written by: Staff on 30th November 2015

WHAT ANDY MURRAY HAS DONE FOR BRITISH TENNIS BY CHERYL SHRUM

epa05042716 Andy Murray of Great Britain during the final draw the Davis Cup World Group between Belgium and Great Britain in Gent, Belgium, 26 November 2015. EPA/LAURENT DUBRULE |

Editors note:

Yes, it’s true. You win the title. It’s yours all year ? Sort Of….The trophy comes home to stay for 11 odd months.

But literally you give blood, sweat and tears to start defending it almost immediately.

Yup. In February!

We here @10sBalls_com Love Davis Cup. But not in its present format! We saw many friends over the past five years organize their hectic 12 month all year round (Tennis Has NO OFF SEASON) to win it. To then lose in a few months. It’s a heartbreaking experience.

Simple solution.

The winning team automatically goes into next year’s finals.

A “challenge round” of sorts. Let the other 100 odd countries play it out for who has the right to play the current title holders of the cup.

We would not eliminate any countries. It really helps the growth of the sport globally.

We would just make that hard earned victory celebration last the whole year.

A few days before leading the British team to their first Davis Cup Championship since 1936, former British Davis Cup captain David L….. (removed his name. Don’t want a lawsuit) blasted Andy Murray in the Daily Mail for not doing enough to promote the game, particularly British tennis.

At the time, I couldn’t help but think the timing certainly wasn’t good and in fact, perhaps a bit of a low blow so close to such a historic occasion. And what about the accusation itself, was there anything to it?

So I decided to take a look at what Andy Murray has done for tennis and in particular, British tennis.

Andy Murray of Britain in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their men’s finals match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 01 February 2015. EPA/Made Nagi

Since 2011, Murray has reached the quarterfinals of each Grand Slam tournament that he has participated in, except the 2015 US Open. He has been the runner-up in six other Grand Slam singles titles — the 2008 US Open, the 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015 Australian Opens, and the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, losing three each to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. He is the first man in the open era to achieve four runner-up finishes at the Australian Open, after losing to Djokovic in the final of the 2015 Australian Open.

In 2012, Murray defeated Federer in the final, 6–2, 6–1, 6–4, to win the Olympic gold medal, becoming the first British singles champion in over 100 years! He also won a silver medal in the mixed doubles, playing with fellow Brit Laura Robson.

A few weeks later at the 2012 US Open, Murray became the first British player since 1977, and the first British man since 1936, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament, when he defeated Novak Djokovic. This title made him the only British male to become a Grand Slam singles champion during the Open Era.

In 2013, Murray beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first British player to win a Wimbledon singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977, and the first British man to win the Men’s Singles Championship since Fred Perry, 77 years before.

These wins made Murray the only man in history to have won Olympic Gold and the US Open in the same calendar year, as well as only the third man to hold the Gold Medal and two majors on different surfaces (after Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal).

2015 will mark the first time Murray has finished the year ranked No. 2 in the world.

But Murray’s biggest and perhaps most important accomplishment for British tennis was this weekend, leading the Brits to Davis Cup victory!

Paul Hutchins, who captained Great Britain’s Davis Cup team to their last final in 1978, told ESPN, “that everyone in British tennis should appreciate how much Andy Murray has done for us. It’s fantastic, really. I just hope that the British public appreciates how much Andy has done for us — this is the biggest promotion that British tennis can get, really. When he won the Olympics in 2012 and then Wimbledon in 2013, there was a terrific spike in enthusiasm for British tennis, and I just hope we get one now.”

I certainly don’t profess to be an expert on British tennis politics or personalities but as an outsider looking at it, it certainly looks like Andy Murray has done a lot for British tennis and I have to agree with him when he said, “It’s the LTA’s job to capitalize on the interest that’s around just now.”

I sure hope both David L. and the LTA are listening…

Editors Note:

It’s sad that the LTA is snoozing.

Judy Murray is the “Pied Piper” the “Grand Dame” The “MOTHER” of British tennis.

FYI. Closing Roehampton was totally lame.

And poor D.L. He just never Got it / or Gets it… Lives within his own bubble. ….

Topics: Andy Murray, British Tennis, Cheryl Shrum, Davis Cup Finals, Great Britain, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

November 30, 2015 at 10:13 pm

What @andy_murray Has Done For @BritishTennis by Cheryl Shrum
https://t.co/2uIZJBUGv9 #AndyMurray #DavisCupFinal #BritishTennis #tennis