As we move closer to December’s much-anticipated Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England event at P&J Live, tennis hero Jamie Murray will serve up a series of exclusive columns for the Press and Journal.
In this second instalment, Jamie talks about the tennis legacy he, as well as his brother Sir Andy Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, want to leave in Scotland once their time playing professionally comes to an end.
Jamie, 35, a multiple Grand Slam champion in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles, says Scotland has not yet capitalised on the Murrays’ high-profile success in the sport, and there remains a need for more indoor tennis facilities to not only bolster the grassroots games, but also bring through more elite-level Scottish tennis players.
Murray explains why he also views live events, like Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England in Aberdeen, as a key part of keeping tennis visible close to home and getting more people across the land involved in tennis.
Tennis has to become year-round sport across Scotland
When Andy and I look back on the impact of our tennis careers back home in Scotland, the most obvious sign of our legacy will be more people playing on year-round courts and a conveyor belt of talent coming through.
Tennis in Scotland isn’t quite where we’d want it to be yet, despite the buzz around the sport over the last 15 year thanks to Andy’s three singles Grand Slams and two Olympic golds, as well as my multiple Slam successes in doubles.
What a lot of people still lack is access to courts – whether that’s park courts, community courts, private tennis clubs or indoor facilities.
The latter, especially, are so important during the Scottish winter, and at the moment there are various parts of the country where there are no indoor courts at all – in both rural areas and cities like Inverness.
It takes time and there are obstacles to be cleared in order to build an indoor tennis centre. We all want to see things happen faster, but I hope those in charge of tennis and their local partners have plans in place to improve the situation and we’re moving in the right direction.
Andy and I were really lucky in terms of indoor court access growing up, because Stirling University was five or 10 minutes from Dunblane.
However, as thing stand, if a kid up in Inverness gets excited watching Andy on TV in January, then wants to pick up a racquet and try tennis straight away, they maybe won’t be able to and could be lost to the game forever as a result.
The lack of accessible facilities year-round is not only holding back the game’s growth at the grassroots level, but also reduces the chances of Scotland producing more world-level players. Without indoor courts, talented youngsters in some areas will miss out on coaching due to the Scottish weather.
We’re already at the point where behind Andy, myself, Cam Norrie – who has had a brilliant two years – and then Aidan McHugh, who is no. 391 in the world rankings, there isn’t really anyone else obvious coming through to pick up the mantle of being the guy who is visible in events on TV every week.
Interest in tennis will naturally wane without easy access to courts all through the year or visible Scottish stars of the game.
Part of the reason for putting on Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England in December is to at least give people in the north of Scotland, as well as those watching on BBC iPlayer in the rest of the country, high-quality tennis to watch on their doorstep.
The creation of new courts and facilities, and as a result increasing the talent pool, is outwith Andy and I’s control, so bringing a live event – something which is also severely lacking in Scotland – to P&J Live is a way for us to actively try to bring more people to the game.
We’ve had so few chances to play at home during our careers and it’s nice to get the chance to compete for Scotland against England in a team event, but there’s also the element of bringing more people up close and personal with top-level tennis.
Hopefully a lot of kids and families come, get excited about it and it inspires them to try tennis. It’s a huge motivation on our side.
We will an unknown quantity in the US Open men’s doubles event
I’m out in New York in the moment for the US Open.
It’s definitely quieter in the city, but the ruling to have maximum fan capacity at the tournament is great and it’ll feel like playing a proper US Open in New York again after the pandemic-affected event last year.
As players, we are still having to be careful about what we do away from matches and practise, however, it’s good to at least be able to eat in restaurants for meals and so on.
There hasn’t been a ‘bubble’ in operation at loads of the tournaments in the States this summer and this hasn’t sparked a host of positive cases, so hopefully it’s the same at the US Open.
It’s a good sign and gives me even more confidence, after big capacities at England and seeing football grounds filling up once more, while more and more people are getting fully vaccinated, that Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England at P&J Live can go off without hitch at maximum capacity later in the year.
It’s been a weird summer, as I went to the Tokyo Olympics with Great Britain at the last minute.
My regular doubles partner Bruno got appendicitis while in Tokyo with Brazil and had to get surgery, so he hasn’t played the whole summer and this is our first tournament back together.
I’ve just been training the last little while, so I guess we’re a bit of an unknown quantity. We’ve prepared the best we can and will be ready for our opener against Tommy Paul and Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday.
Tickets for Battle of the Brits in Aberdeen
For Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England tickets ahead of the event on December 21 and 22 click here.
The tennis action will be spread across three sessions, with two-time Wimbledon champion, US Open winner and double Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray playing in every session.
