Murray must lose his Scottishness

Can the English ever learn to love Andy Murray? A Wimbledon victory over the next fortnight would certainly help

FIRST POSTED JUNE 22, 2009

One very good reason for Andy Murray to win Wimbledon is that it would do his marketability a power of good. For while the Scot has advanced to number three in the world - ranked behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer - he is still way down in the likeability stakes. Which means advertisers aren't convinced about using him to endorse their products.

According to Sports Illustrated, Roger Federer, the world's most successful player, earned more than $35m last year - and the huge bulk was not from playing tennis tournaments, but from advertising Rolex, Gilette and Nike. Maria Sharapova earned £21m last year, the majority from endorsements.

But as the Sunday Telegraph reported, "Federer has charm and Sharapova glamour - high among the qualities advertisers cherish. The Scotsman, to put it bluntly, has struggled to display either".

There are two main problems: first, he has a reputation for being gloomy and grungy; second, he's allowed his Scottishness full rein, even declaring before the last football World Cup that he supported "anyone but England". Tim Henman may not have been nearly as good at tennis as Murray, but he never provoked his potential fans in this way.

Andrew Baker, a Daily Telegraph sports writer, makes the point that Murray doesn't need the crowd in the way that Henman did. "He doesn't play off a crowd, doesn't milk it in the same way," says Baker. "Andy's a lot less concerned about how people see him, and his image isn't so important to him."

Paul Hayward, writing in the Observer, told how Murray's natural discomfort was on show at Queen's when he became the first British player in 71 years to win the traditional Wimbledon grass court warm-up earlier this month. "He declined the role of darling to the middle-class and corporate lunch-munchers," said Hayward. "All he wanted to do was kiss his mum and take his entourage for a curry."

The question is, can England ever learn to love Andy? The debonair new look unveiled for Wimbledon - the Fred Perry cable-knit jumper and crisp white - may help, but what would really do it would be the British victory the centre court has dreamed of since Perry himself won the men's title in 1936. "Then we'd learn to love him, all right," said a Wimbledon veteran. "He might even learn to like us."

FIRST POSTED JUNE 22, 2009

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Andy Murray is a brilliant player and I do hope he does well over the next two weeks. Yes, it would be lovely if he was English but I think people are so shallow not to be behind this young man. I am British and I am proud of it. Brenda

Posted by Brenda Kirk at 10:46am on June 22, 2009

As for Andy Murray not having English support try viewing the tape of last years match v Gasquet. Yes the crowds at Queens were not yelling in their seats but they never do; Andy will have the crowd fully behind him at Wimbledon and I would much rather he was his own man than tried to be whatever the advertisers wanted. If he can win Wimbledon then advertisers will be falling over themselves to have him rep their products. (And why did we never get articles about Henman having to lose his Englishness so that he would appeal to the Scots/Welsh/Irish etc)

Posted by TERESA HARVEY at 12:37pm on June 22, 2009

He is a male chauvinist. When he was interviewed by a tabloid newspaper, he referred to women as 'chicks'. He also hates the English and makes his hatred very clear. I doubt very much whether Tim Henman would ever have wished defeat on the Scottish National football team or bragged that he would be wearing the shirt of Scotland's opponents. I hope he gets hammered at Wimbledon.

Posted by crazydiamond at 12:47pm on June 22, 2009

Your headline does not reflect what the writer has actually said, but why should Andy Murray lose his Scottishness? Every Scot who moves to London does not have to try, like Gordon Brown, to be more English than the English. Judge him on how well he plays, not on his nationality or allegations about his personality.

Posted by eestlane at 1:02pm on June 22, 2009

"I am British and I am proud of it. Brenda" Why?...................... I'm British because I was born here. How can I be proud of something over which I had no influence? As for Murray. I just hope he grows out of his chavish fist pumping and shoutiing to the crowd. We see chavish footballer style behaviour creeping in to many sports (just look at cricket 20/20). It might appeal to the great unwashed and it might generate revenues, but it is appalling. Hopefully tennis will stamp on it (including the grunters).

Posted by TomNightingale at 1:55pm on June 22, 2009

Why do the English keep dragging up Murray's so-called 'anti-English' comments. This began as an out-of-context quote from a journalist who should have known better - Tim Henman, who was a part of the original interview, and Andy Murray himself have tried their best to correct that original mischevous quote, but few in England even want to hear. Andy has matured in every way, wearing smartly conservative dress for the court, short and tidy styled hair and brilliant match play. The fact that he does not fit the conventions of male beauty and he speaks with a mild Scots accent are all used as sticks to beat him with. I suspect Tennis is failing in the UK due to the underlying xenophobia, class consciousness and snobbery of it's blazer-wearers and its followers.

Posted by Colin Kendall at 11:27am on June 24, 2009