When will we see his likes again?
Andy Murray, the uncrowned King of Scotland.
By Ken McNab
Thanks doesn’t cover it. Gratitude doesn’t cut it. Appreciation doesn’t come close. There are no real words to sum up the sporting debt we as a nation owe Andy Murray.
Perhaps heroic. Courageous certainly. Gutsy definitely. Inspirational without doubt.
Andy flew the flag for Scotland on the world’s sporting stage and rarely did he let us down. Especially at a time when, let’s face it, we’re not exactly burning up the map with global sporting superstars. He is Scotland’s greatest sportsman. Period.
I remember watching him beat Novak Djokovic to win the US Open in 2012, his first major. It was so tense I literally had to walk out of the Evening Times office at 1am, convinced I would jinx him if I kept watching.A superstition that continued to stalk me through the years every time he reached a final.
He twice won Wimbledon, finally exorcising the ghost of Fred Perry and becoming, in the process, a legend.
He wore the mantle of Olympic champion like a Caesar wore a laurel leaf.
And who could possibly forget his emotional exertions for Britain’s Davis Cup team?
Then there was his valiant climb to become world number one. An ascent that, with hindsight, might have been one rung too far on the career ladder.
Just as important, though, is one ineluctable truth. Andy never let Scotland down. Not once. How many of us watched through the cracks in our fingers at every grimace, every sinew-twisting shot, every point won and lost. Desperately egging him on, this son of Dunblane.
Hopefully he has inspired a new generation of Scots kids – girls and boys – to pick up a tennis racquet and chase their own sporting dreams.
It was utterly heartbreaking to see him so distraught at having to retire. But he has no need for tearful and painful recriminations. No one wants to see him hirpling into middle age. Best to walk proudly with head held into the sunset now…and we all know it.
How do you describe the totality of Andy Murray’s tennis career in a few, glib words? Many will be written over the next few days. But I just wanted to get my own feelings out there and hopefully others will share them.
Our Andy was simply magnificent. We will never see his like again.