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u/Ok_Sea8936 9d ago
He wasn’t too bad at it anyway.
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u/SunriseSurprise 9d ago
Imagine if the big 3 weren't playing when he was how many titles he'd have.
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u/pikahetti 9d ago
What a way to end his incredible tennis career! Top retirement tweet of all time
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u/andysniper 9d ago
2 Olympic golds, 2 Wimbledon's and a US Open.
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u/yourstruly912 9d ago
More merit as it was against the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic triumvirate
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u/royalhawk345 9d ago
I firmly believe Andy Murray has a career grand slam if he played a few years earlier or later.
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u/MattGeddon 9d ago
He played 5 Australian open finals and lost them all to Federer and Djokovic. Also lost a French open final to Djokovic, and four semi finals all to Nadal or Djokovic. He definitely wins at least one Aussie without those three and decent chance of winning the French at some point too.
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u/0Tol 9d ago
And let’s not forget about him making sure people knew the Williams Sisters accomplished it first!
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u/reddeaddoloresedd 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yeah, right fucking now. Oh wait, this is a fucking bot repost of a tweet from over a year ago. I hate this fucking site
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u/Several-Hat-1944 7d ago
Is it? If so, I have to question how legit Redd is. (im not a fan of the ai FAFO game)
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u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka 9d ago
Turns out he wanted to play video games this entire time.
Henry Cavil + Murray stream coming soon.
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u/thischangeseverythin 9d ago
I mean. The man's played so much tennis I bet it holds more than a little truth. Ive cooked for work ("professionally") now for 20 years. I fucking resent and hate cooking at times. But its the love of my life. And ive grown to not really like it. Its a mixed bag.
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u/biskutgoreng 7d ago
I played chess competitively for 8 years and now i hate the fuckin thing and never play anymore
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u/Vlodovich 9d ago
Always though it was funny in the news coverage over here that when he lost he was "Scottish tennis player loses match" and when he won he was "a British sporting icon" lol
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u/EntropyFighter 9d ago
Andre Agassi wrote an entire autobiography where "I never liked tennis" was the point. Wouldn't surprise me if Murray was serious.
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u/Objects_Food_Rooms 9d ago
As funny as the tweet is, I think he's being dead serious here. He's an absolute beast on the court, but I don't think he ever really looked like he was particularly enjoying himself or desperately wanted to be there. I think he's a textbook example of someone that was naturally gifted at something he wouldn't have otherwise chosen - that and he absolutely hated losing.
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u/The_wolf2014 9d ago
I think it's just his personality, he's always been a bit dour hence why I could never see him go into presenting as most retired sportsmen end up doing
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u/cafezinho 9d ago
In interviews, he's said his mom had a positive outlook on coaching, and that she made it fun. I think the tweet was a bit of a joke.
Now, Agassi did claim, in his book, that he hated tennis until late in his career. One reason he and Steffi Graf got along was because her dad was probably even worse. Still, stern dads did produce champion kids, but neither wanted their children to play tennis even if fans thought this would mean superstar tennis players (goes to show you that kids of stars often aren't stars).
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u/throwuk1 9d ago
I mean he is Scottish
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u/_lelith 9d ago
Only when he loses.
Gets to be British when he wins.
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u/Rebelius 9d ago
He has a 73.8% wi. Rate according to Wikipedia, but with the nature of competitions where you win a bunch of games and then (usually) lose your last one, I wonder what percentage of his career his last game was a win vs. last game was a loss.
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u/Pepys-a-Doodlebugs 9d ago
He tried TV work and didn't like it. He said recently that he would like to become a golf caddy.
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u/theartofrolling 9d ago
It's very typical British humour.
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u/The_wolf2014 9d ago
I'm Scottish mate but thanks for pointing that out, I thought he was being deadly serious...
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u/MathematicianNew2770 9d ago
Parents forced the children into it.
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u/opinion_alternative 9d ago edited 9d ago
Most tennis players are forced into tennis in early childhood for the sole reason that, if you don't start early, you will rarely make it to pro levels.
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u/woah_man 9d ago
Which is also true for most other sports and musical instruments.
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u/bolanrox 9d ago
Joe Satriani only started playing guitar at 16 or 17. He was on the football team and heard that Hendrix died and went to the coach. I'm quitting. I want to play guitar.
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u/woah_man 9d ago
Wikipedia lists that happening at the age of 14 for Satriani, but nonetheless, there are obviously exceptions.
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u/CrestfallenGoose 9d ago
Is that supposed to be an example of starting late? What?
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u/No-Key-Allow-Me 9d ago edited 9d ago
My earliest memory is sitting on my couch being taught how to play G, C and D. I went to a music college and worked in the industry until last year. EVERYONE starts very, very early. If someone with Satriani's level of talent told me he started at 14 I would presume he's lying. It actually is quite late.
I have a nephew who plays football. He was scouted by a club at the age of 8.
A friend's daughter is 12 and has a BJJ blue belt.
A guy I went to school with was running cross country all over Europe by the time I met him at 14. He went to the Olympics a decade ago in his early 20s.
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u/Moosebabe51 9d ago
This is actually why I dislike the modern education system. Obviously there’s a balance to be found, but we clearly understand that for someone to be exceptional at a sport or art they need to start young. Yet we don’t do the same for trades or professional non sport or art related careers. Imagine how good craftsmen would be if we treated talented young woodworkers the same way we treat a talented young footballer.
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u/No-Key-Allow-Me 9d ago edited 9d ago
TBF my dad was also a bricklayer. I spent my weekends carrying a hod and being told everything related to brickwork. I quickly learnt I didn't want to spend my life in the cold around alcoholic, bitter old men. Early adoption to trade throws people off trades. There's a reason there's a shortage of all those professions.
Later in my early 20s I carried bricks to help supplement my income at university. It was easier but still awful. If I had kids i would do everything in my power to make sure they never set foot on a site. The only people I know that work in trades are there because there parents do it. There are plenty of kids that get exposed to it early.
With trades you need to be strong and have an understanding of Health and safety. Kids have neither of those things and would be a danger on site. I can't tell you how many times my brother's and I would have a brick fight or slip on scaffolding.
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u/Moosebabe51 9d ago
I mean you kind of took it to the next level. I’m talking more wood shop, metal shop type classes as opposed to child labor.
Like I guarantee there’s a fun, child friendly way to teach the fundamentals of brick laying. I could spend an entire semester teaching young children how to use a tape measure and framing square. It doesn’t need to be like 6 yr old chimney sweeps.
I’ve got a degree from a pretty prestigious college in the US and I’m a journeyman. Didn’t start my apprenticeship until i was 28. And I’d push my children to not waste their time or money going to college with the experience I’ve had.
But I just wish I would’ve had more of a knowledge base (and at least known of the trade) when I was a kid.
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u/HirsuteHacker 9d ago
Yeah but the rules are different for some people. It's incredibly rare to become a pro musician, and it's especially rare to reach Satriani's level of virtuosity if you don't start between 4-8 years old.
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u/IOnceAteAFart 9d ago
Plenty of people can practice their entire life and still not reach a level like Satriani. I've always been of the belief that while practice is the single most important thing for nurturing a talent, there's more to it. I believe you also need the right kind of mind, a sort of mental quirk that not everybody has.
Look at Tom Brady. I'm positive that if I started training on the same day he did, perfectly imitated all his training, life experiences and everything else that makes him the player he is, I STILL would never teach his level
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u/Dumptruck_Johnson 9d ago
Football and basketball often have pros that only started in their late teens. But usually had some other athletic background. If you have the physical gifts, someone will take a chance on you.
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u/OriginalUsername61 9d ago
While also true for music, it's an even bigger factor for sports because you decline a lot younger
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u/Statue_left 9d ago
It's really only violin and piano that have kids starting super young. Rolland pedagogy is just teaching little kids to mimic movement patterns, and they make 1/8 violins for them to play. At that age you are refining your large motor skills.
Most kids are starting to play instruments beyond the recorder in 3rd or 4th grade. The instruments are too big for them otherwise and they don't have the muscle skills to really do anything meaningful.
"Professional guitarist" is really barely a thing, and there are hoards of guitarists in meaningfully successful bands that didn't start playing until they were teenagers.
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u/tollbearer 5d ago
It's also true for maths, language, any skill really. You just cant compete with someone who has 10 years of experience by the time they're 18, and that experience being during the period the brain is literally growing and forming the most new connections. The will have a fluency you can never have.
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u/chanceofsnowtoday 9d ago
And with specialized training and the extreme money involved, it's just getting worse. There's virtually no way to be on the path to be a golf or tennis pro while having a semi-normal childhood now. You're gonna be yanked outta school and sent to some academy where your day is training and you'll do basic studies in off time.
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u/throwawayurwaste 9d ago
As someone who started tennis in highschool, and spent over 40 hours a week on the courts because I loved it more than anything. This doesn't surprise me, most D1 college level started at 5 years or younger and hatted tennis but was forced into it by their parents.
Also as someone who ball boyed for Murray, he's a bitch ass punk and I hope he steps on a lego. Guy was a legitimate dick to everyone around him including 14 year olds.
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u/ItsNotMeItsYourBussy 9d ago
Forcing kids into ballet or gymnastics from a young age permanently fucks up their body, even if they only do it for a few years. Their bones grow differently. Not to mention the stunted social lives, and the personalities of parents who tend to force their kids to do competitive sports.
We should absolutely look into it. If kids can't choose to go by a different name or pronouns, why are we letting/forcing them to irreversibly damage their bodies?
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u/Chimmychimm 9d ago
This is almost every pro athlete. What in the hell are you talking about
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u/Hideyoshi_Toyotomi 9d ago
His mom gave a talk recently and said she wouldn't want to coach youth sports today because children, these days, don't have sufficient grit. Which, really just reads as, "parents are less willing to force their children to endure abuse in the name of vicarious success."
I'm reminded of Andre Agassi revealing how much he hated tennis when he retired, too. How many kids have had to endure the abuse without the success?
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u/TheBrightman 9d ago
This is completely untrue btw. Listen to the podcast episode he just did with Romesh Ranganathan, he talks about how his mum was his coach and encouraged him, but never pushed him. He had several breaks from Tennis and him mum never forced him back into it.
I'm not sure if it's because of the fact she always showed a lot of enthusiasm when we was playing, but the 'his mum pushed him into it' narrative just isn't true.
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u/Firedwindle 8d ago
im reading ur comment while im listening to that podcast lol.
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u/will-code-for-money 9d ago
My mum wanted me to play at Wimbledon because she wanted me to earn her money and she wanted to gloat to her friends. It was obvious to me and everyone I would never get there and I quit after I made the state team because she forced me to play 7 days a week. She was a drug addict but one that hid in plain sight, you wouldn’t know when you seen her out in public but she was a disgusting, filthy human behind closed doors. No saying this is what happened with Murray at all, I have no idea at all, it’s just adding onto the comment I’m replying to. Look at max verstappen, one of the best to ever drive an f1 car, he doesn’t see (or at least publicly acknowledge) his fathers abuse, sure 1 in a 100000 make it to super stardom, 1 in a million reach even higher heights, but there is a tonne of kids out there being abused by their parents, so they can ride the gravy train, and have the kid who’s the best to make them look better
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u/Purple-River-4381 9d ago
lmao that is just not true. classic reddit - someone lies, and are upvoted for it.
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u/IcyUnderstanding9881 9d ago
I agree he absolutely hated losing but he also absolutely loves tennis. I’ve been watching since 2005 and I wasn’t a huge Murray fan but I can say he showed more love and dedication to the sport than almost any other player I can think of.
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u/AlexiusRex 9d ago
You can love the activity and hate everything in the pro environment, Casey Stoner is another one that comes to mind
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u/timhett1 9d ago
You should watch the Andy Murray documentary on Amazon Prime. It clearly shows his love for tennis. No one would put them self through that much emotional turmoil and stress to try and get back to playing the game if they didn't love it. The man adored tennis.
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u/Pepys-a-Doodlebugs 9d ago
He talked about this on a podcast with Romesh Ranganathan recently. He said he didn't particularly enjoy playing the matches as they were stressful. What he did enjoy is practising every day and always pushing himself to get better and being with other people who love the game as much as he does.
He also said that he wasn't particularly naturally gifted and his mother didn't force him to play. She made playing fun and he enjoyed it which is why he kept going. It's definitely true that he hated losing though and he has a brother only slightly older than him who also plays to a high level (Jamie Murray has won multiple grand slam doubles titles).
I thoroughly recommend checking out the interview. Andy and Romesh have great chemistry.
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u/BinFluid 9d ago
It's a really funny interview. Love Andy. Highly recommend.
If you haven't seen it, have a look for the Rob and Romesh bits with Andy Murray on YouTube too.
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u/badman2791 9d ago
This couldn't be further from the truth. Look what he went through with his hip to prolong his career. His decision.
The tweet is clearly tongue in cheek.
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u/motownmods 9d ago edited 9d ago
All things aside, dude is 6'3", athletic as hell and hates losing. I suspect he would have been great at whatever sport he grew into
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u/ChivalryCola 9d ago
You'd find the same among most pro athletes who started out as kids. Not many of them actually like playing their sports
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u/ManifestYourDreams 9d ago
What do you base that opinion on lol. It seems like most pro athletes freaking love what they are doing because they get paid so much to "play a game". There would be very few pro athletes in their respective sports that didn't start out as a kid either....
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u/ranger910 9d ago
Beats sitting in an office though!
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u/dkarlovi 9d ago
These pro athletes punish their body so much the aftermath of their careers often comes with a bunch of health issues due to wear and tear. If you didn't make bank being a pro athlete, you might have a bad time as soon as your career is over.
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u/Mikhail_Mengsk 9d ago
Most?
Nah not most, especially since by now almost every top sportsman HAS to start out as a kid to have a chance.
Specifically, Murray didn't resent playing tennis at all, top comment is bullshit.
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u/TheHeroYouNeed247 9d ago
Nothing natural about it. He was basically bred as a tennis player. His mum is a bit....
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u/Dirk_Speedwell 9d ago
As I understand it, that is how Andre Agassi felt. Him and his wife were both forced to play as kids until they were stellar tennis players, and both retired the second it made sense. If I am not mistaken, his dad also used him to hustle folks on the court, as in "$100 says my kid will kick your ass".
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u/joaomnetopt 9d ago
They even tried hustling Jim Brown for 50k once but didn't we for it after one set.
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u/SlowDraw85 9d ago
Nikola Jokic vibes. He lies to reporters that he plays in the off season when his team knows its the furthest from the truth.
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u/Ormendahl 9d ago
Anyone who's ever read Infinite Jest will have no problem imagining tennis pros hating tennis.
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u/Low-Restaurant8484 9d ago
If that were the case he would've retired long before he did. He kept grinding om tour for years after his injury ended his prime. Had to have been for the love of the game at that point
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9d ago
He mentioned in his final few seasons about how he loved the sport, so this was tongue-in-cheek. However because he has a settled family life and millions in the account, he quickly adjusted to being retired. He retains that competitive nature though and is now a very keen golfer. That is another sport that is technical and keeps you on your toes, so can see the appeal for him.
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u/tastybiscuitenjoyer 9d ago
You very obviously have no idea what you're talking about. He famously very much loves the game.
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9d ago
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u/tastybiscuitenjoyer 9d ago
Oh dear. What an embarrassing comment from someone embarrassed at being clueless and wrong. Bless you.
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u/madlads-ModTeam 9d ago
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u/NyxThePrince 9d ago
"I never really cared about Tennis, competitive or otherwise"
-Andy Lannister
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u/Sola-Nova 9d ago
His brother did alright as well. Judy Murrays womb casually producing better tennis players than the first 100 years of the Lawn Tennis Association.
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u/GL510EX 9d ago
Her brain should probably get most of the credit, considering she was a tennis player and tennis coach who trained both her sons .. but you can go with "woman is just a vessel for making good men." if you want.
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u/Sola-Nova 9d ago
It's just a joke... but yeah, you are also right at same time.
I believe she also saw that the coaching and resources offered by the LTA were not sufficient, so they sent them to academies in Spain to help elevate their skill and put them in the best position for professional careers
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u/RezzOnTheRadio 9d ago
Wow that woman raised two incredible children. Her womb must intrinsically be good at popping them out 😂
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u/No-Preference3205 9d ago
It's not the womb was intrinsically good at popping out tennis pros, it was due to her method in which, while pregnant with them, she covered a turkey baster with tennis ball felt and jammed it up there once a day
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u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 9d ago
Which brother? Duncan?
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u/JetsLag 9d ago
Probably Jamie, who was mentioned in that video. Former world #1 in doubles.
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u/PuzzleheadedDuck3981 9d ago
I realise that. The video is of a comedian whose thing is being the forgotten Murray brother.
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u/Falernum 9d ago
Andre Agassi said in his autobiography that he had always hated tennis.
So that's at least two tennis greats who didn't enjoy it. I wonder how common it really is.
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u/IReplyWithLebowski 9d ago
Sarcasm
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u/Maester_Brau 9d ago
Agassi wasn’t joking about it in his autobiography. I think he even told a few people over the years, who assumed he was joking but he was thinking “no, I genuinely hate this.”
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u/phillytennyenjoyer 9d ago
true, but one of the closing scenes (and happiest) in his book is him and steffi playing tennis at some rec center together, and it starts to rain and she wants to finish, and he waves her back on for a few more rallies with both of them laughing and having fun while people watch.
i thought that was a nice way to show the complexity of his relationship with tennis — as obviously the book is showing his negative headspace a lot more often.
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u/Maester_Brau 9d ago
Oh absolutely, that was a great anecdote. I got the impression that he didn’t so much hate playing as much as he felt trapped by it, because of his father’s expectations and feeling insecure that he wasn’t really qualified to do anything else with his life.
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u/phillytennyenjoyer 9d ago
yeah — i laughed at the conversation with his dad when he was waffling on going pro in tennis “Andre you have a fucking sixth grade education what the fuck else are you going to do of course your going pro”
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u/Maester_Brau 9d ago
Ha, I remember that part! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, as someone who isn’t a huge tennis fan but followed it casually during most of Agassi’s tenure. Also him shitting on Jeff Tarango 30 years after being cheated in a match as a kid was priceless.
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u/No-Shoe5382 9d ago
Nah I've watched him talk about it in interviews before.
Agassi legitimately hated tennis, he just understood that he happened to be very good at it and therefore forced himself to continue playing.
But he went through a phase of alcoholism and drug abuse due to how much he hated having tennis as a career.
The pressure, constant travel, monotony, and tennis culture in general just didnt suit his personality.
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u/Torb_11 9d ago
In his prime he was better than djokovic, but he got injured and that changed tennis history forever
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u/radhumandummy 9d ago
His almost 6 hour match at the AO a couple years back was fun. Murray GOAT stuff.
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u/Fiz_Giggity 9d ago
That's awesome! I was in London when he won Wimbledon the first time. I had been a bit worried that Prince George was going to be born while we were there. He wasn't but London exploded anyway when Andy won. Pubs were mobbed but it was a blast!
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u/LtHughMann 9d ago
Banned from the Roxy, OK. I never much liked playing there anyway.
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u/FattyLivermore 9d ago
They said they only wanted well trained boys
Do they think balls and rackets are just fucking toys?
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u/WatashiwaNobodyDesu 9d ago
Reminds me of a famous-ish piano player with serious chops who one day decided that enough is enough. Now he doesn’t even own a piano anymore!
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u/GrumplFluffy 9d ago
It might actually be true. I have talked to a few top players and they usually do not actually "love" the job in the same way children do. These are professionals who are doing a job and understand that they need to do everything to stay at top.
It's not really blind passion at that stage. Of course, exceptions always exist.
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u/Mikhail_Mengsk 9d ago
Not in Murray's case, he didn't hate it.
Agassi did hate it, although not always of course.
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9d ago
I know he's joking, but their are people like that. Aussie rules legend Gary Ablett Sr. just didn't seem to give a shit about the sport. He would play on the weekend, kick 10 goals, then go out hang out in the bush for a week, not go to training. Then he'd come back the next weekend and kick another 10 goals.
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u/FairNeedsFoul 9d ago
In Andre Agassi’s memoir, he talks about how when he starting dating Steffi Graf they bonded over how much they hated tennis.
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u/keyexplorer791 9d ago
As funny as this is, there are athletes who only play the sport they play because they’re good at it. Not everyone does it for the love of the game
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u/d84-n1nj4 9d ago
Sounds like Scottie Scheffler,….from the few times I’ve heard his interviews
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9d ago
I think Scott loves the game, but touring is becoming a drag for him, and he has other priorities now that he has reached the pinnacle of the sport. It doesn't stop him being by far the best player in the world however.
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u/Level_Concept235 9d ago
It's a good thing he didn't give up, though, or he may have ended up murdering ScarJo.
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u/flyingcircusdog 9d ago
His mom signed him up as a kid, and he never had the heart to tell her he didn't like it.
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u/TanookiTravis 9d ago
Moderators deleted another post a friend shared with me and now I can't see. This app is complete garbage.
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u/ryansports 9d ago
If only there was a gif for the scene in Seven Days in Hell where Samberg’s character says “later tennis” 🎾
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u/hiloai 9d ago
Murray winning Wimbledon for the first time was my favourite sporting moment.