Tennis coach Judy calls for more men to publicly challenge sexism and misogyny
Sir Andy Murray has revealed upon learning for the first time last month that his mother was sexually assaulted in 2014 that he was “angry and upset”.
Judy Murray, 62, wrote in her newspaper column for the Sunday Post about how she was left “feeling sick to my stomach for a long time” after an incident with a drunken executive.
Following a controversial after-dinner speech at the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Awards, she decided to speak out for the first time last month.
The tennis coach called for more men to publicly challenge sexism and misogyny following eight-years of keeping it in the dark.
Murray, right, revealed to Bloomberg when he spoke about the incident for the first time that it was the first time he had heard of his mother’s sexual assault but his older brother Jamie Murray already knew.
“And yeah, I was obviously really upset for her. I was pretty angry but also I didn’t know quite exactly what to say. Obviously, I messaged my mum. I called her the following day to talk to her to make sure that she was OK.
“It’s obviously a familiar story for a lot of women, and yeah, that sort of behaviour shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere.”
Judy Murray wrote in a newspaper column that a “senior executive had put his hand on her knee at the table and down her trousers.
She wrote: “Towards the end of the meal, it was clear that he had had quite a bit to drink and he put his hand firstly on my knee.
“I didn’t know what to do so I removed his hand and leaned forward to pour myself some water and, as I did, he slipped his hand down the back of my trousers.
“At that point, I got up and went straight to the bathroom. I wanted to throw up. It rocked me so badly.
“I sat in the loos for ages and decided to do the speech – the show must go on and all that – but I didn’t go back into the room until I knew it was time for me to go on stage.
“As soon as I had done my bit, I walked back to the table, picked up my bag and left.” Judy Murray insisted she would speak out if anything like it happened again.
Tennis star Andy has often spoken out on equality issues discussed where tennis stands following Jake Daniels becoming the first gay active male pro footballer.
He said: “Certainly in tennis, there’s been no male tennis players have come out as gay whilst they’ve still been playing.
“A few have come out postcareer, so we may have to ask why that is, and why they still don’t feel comfortable to come out whilst they’re still active.
“But I would hope that it would be viewed positively by all of the players, and that’s certainly been the case on the female side.”