MURRAY Andy

General
POST-TENNIS PLANS
In 2021 he spoke about his desire to continue working in sport following his retirement from tennis. "I love sport, so something else that would interest me post-playing would be working in another sport. I got asked about this a little while ago and, because I really like golf, being a caddie on a golf tour would be exciting, to be up close and personal with top golfers and to learn about another sport like that. There's probably also some crossover between tennis and golf on the mental side and things, and helping a golfer with that might be interesting. Or getting my coaching badges in football, that would be fun." (bbc.co.uk, 30 Mar 2021)

DUNBLANE MASSACRE
In 1996, then age eight, he survived the Dunblane massacre in Scotland when gunman Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and their teacher, before turning the gun on himself. He was on his way to the gymnasium at Dunblane Primary School when Hamilton burst into the school. A teacher ushered Murray and his classmates away and they hid in the headmaster's study as the massacre occurred. "Some of my friends' brothers and sisters were killed. I have only retained patch impressions of that day, such as being in a classroom singing songs. The weirdest thing was that we knew the guy [Hamilton]. He had been in my mum's car. It's obviously weird to think you had a murderer in your car, sitting next to your mum." (theguardian.com, 16 Jun 2014; scotsman.com, 24 Jun 2013; dailymail.co.uk, 05 Jun 2008)

CHARITABLE WORK
He received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 2014 for his work with a variety of charities, including the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and Stand Up To Cancer. The award also recognised his efforts raising awareness for the work of The United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], United for Wildlife and Malaria No More. He has also served as a Global Ambassador for UNICEF and the World Wide Fund for Nature [WWF]. (andymurray.com, 05 Nov 2014; atpworldtour.com, 13 Jun 2015, 17 Sep 2015)

EARLY DAYS IN SPAIN
At age 15 he moved to Barcelona, Spain, to train at the Sanchez-Casal Academy for 18 months under Spanish coach Pato Alvarez. "It was a big sacrifice to move away from your family, and spend money training over there when you're not making any back. You're spending 30,000 Euros a year to train yourself as a tennis player, and if you're no good it's a waste of money. You have to think to yourself, 'Am I doing this to try and become a player or am I just doing it for fun?' Because if I was just doing it for fun, I should have stayed in Scotland." (telegraph.co.uk, 24 Aug 2013; independent.co.uk, 30 Jan 2010; theguardian.com, 09 Jun 2007)

He became the first tennis player to win two gold medals in singles at the Olympic Games, following his victories in the singles competition at the 2012 and 2016 Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 02 Jul 2020; bbc.co.uk, 01 Jul 2020)

At Wimbledon in 2013 he became the first British tennis player to win a men's singles Grand Slam title since Fred Perry in 1936. In 2012 he became the first British tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal in men's singles since Josiah Ritchie in 1908. (bbc.co.uk, 07 Jul 2013; bbc.co.uk, 05 Aug 2012; SportsDeskOnline, 15 Jul 2020)