Coach Judy Murray Wants More Courts

Written by: Staff on 12th July 2013

Coach Judy Murray Wants More Courts

epa03066708 Judy Murray (centre), mother of Andy Murray of Great Britain, watches her son during his second round match against Edouard Roger Vasselin of France at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2012. EPA/MARTIN PHILBEY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Britain has enjoyed a week of tennis euphoria after Andy Murray became the first home-grown player to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title for 77 years. However Murray’s mother Judy is concerned the sport in their homeland is not geared to take advantage of her son’s success.

She is worried there will not be sufficient available courts for youngsters to follow the Murray craze and actually pick up a racket to play. Plus she is insistent tennis still possesses an elitist stigma and the tennis club is a bastion of the well-heeled and affluent.

Speaking on the BBC Newsnight, Britain’s premier daily current affairs programme on national television, the current British Fed Cup captain said: “The country will go tennis crazy. Kids and adults will want to try tennis and not all of them will get the opportunity.

“The key is to make sure there are as many public courts in as many communities we can put them in if we’re going to tap into this great imagination.”

Judy Murray knows what she is talking about, having been responsible for tennis coaching in Scotland for several years before the professional emergence of her two sons, Jamie who won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title in 2007, and 26 year-old Andy.

She added: “If there isn’t a facility or a coaching team, if there isn’t the opportunity on your doorstep you lose interest pretty quickly and find something else to do.”

The elitist tag is something the Lawn Tennis Association have been fighting against for years but the All England Club, home of Wimbledon, is one of the most exclusive in the country. Another is Queen’s Club, where the warm up Aegon Championships, are played.

“I’d like tennis to become way more inclusive,” said the Murray matriarch. “I think it still is too elitist. Some moves have been made to make things better but there’s still such a long way to go and there are huge swathes of the country where you can’t find tennis courts.

“You need to build courts in areas where they currently don’t exist for it to become a much more inclusive sport. We need to get into rural areas and disadvantaged areas and get tennis to people that haven’t had the opportunity to play.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, British tennis news, Judy Murray, Scottish tennis news, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

July 12, 2013 at 7:18 am

Coach Judy Murray Wants More Courts – http://t.co/egcTaZquPy @judmoo @andy_murray @BritishTennis @BleacherReport @ESPNTennis