Andy Murray Wimbledon Champion: The Full and Extraordinary Story

by Mark Hodgkinson

The most revealing and in-depth biography of Andy Murray yet published. When Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal both exited in the first few days of Wimbledon 2013, the level of expectation on Andy Murray to become the first British champion of the men's competition since 1936 rose to new heights. Two sets down in the quarter-final, he recovered to keep alive the hopes of a nation. Then, on a boiling hot Sunday afternoon, Murray faced up to the world's best player, Novak Djokovic, with the title almost within his grasp. After three hours of tension, drama and sheer brilliance, Murray was Wimbledon champion and 17.3 million viewers, glued to the action, celebrated with him after his straight-sets victory. But how had the man from Dunblane, Scotland, a country once characterised as the worst tennis nation in the world, risen to the top? In this fascinating and revealing biography, Mark Hodgkinson, who first interviewed Murray when he was just 17, looks into the people who have influenced the Scot's career - his family, his coaches and his girlfriend among them - and assesses how he has won over a dubious and critical public. Murray's story is extraordinary, and this book gets to the heart of that remarkable drama.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Sports

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Bookaholic]

Cea mai recentă apariţie a Editurii Publica în domeniul tenisului profesionist este biografia lui Andy Murray, scrisă de Mark Hodgkinson (fost corespondent de tenis pentru Daily Telegraph şi fondatorul thetennisspace.com), Andy Murray. Campion la Wimbledon. Murray a intrat în rândul jucătorilor de top de necontestat din prezent după ce, în 2013, a reuşit să rupă lanţul ghinionului şi să devină primul britanic din ultimii 77 de ani care obţine Wimbledonul.

Faţă de celelalte biografii despre tenismeni celebri, cea despre Andy Murray începe neaşteptat, axându-se pe imaginea mamei, Judy Murray (şi ea fostă campioană naţională la tenis), supranumită „Mama Tigru din tenisul britanic” – nonconformistă, neîncadrându-se în tiparul mamei din suburbiile londoneze, criticată pentru stilul vestimentar şi pentru felul zgomotos în care-şi încurajează fiul. Evident, au fost mame şi mai dure (iar Hodgkinson aminteşte de mama lui Jimmy Connors, care-l îndemna să joace ca „un animal scos din minţi”), dar excepţia este totuşi că „Andy Murray este cu siguranţă primul jucător din circuitul principal care a fost nevoit să-şi apere mama în faţa atacului verbal al unui adversar” (şi aici se referă la injuriile aduse de Juan Martin Del Porto). O explicaţie a criticii cu care este întâmpinată mama lui Murray, căreia Boris Becker i-a spus că este atât de insistentă încât ar putea să-l împingă la dezastru pe fiul ei, ţine de percepţia diferită asupra femeilor: nimeni nu l-a criticat vreodată pe tatăl surorilor Williams că a preluat controlul asupra vieţii lor şi nimeni nu a avut vreo vorbă rea de spus cu privire la legăturile extrem de strânse ale lui Nadal cu familia sa. (continuarea cronicii: http://bookaholic.ro/andy-murray-rena...)

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have not left my sun lounger all day today ........!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book in my e-book collection for a few years. After watching Andy Murray, at age 35 with a metal hip, seemingly turn back the clock with his incredible 1st two round back-to-back five set victories at the 2023 Australian Open - it seemed like no better time to finally read this book about his 1st Wimbledon victory 10 years earlier in 2013.
The book has 7 chapters, but I didn't realize until about chapter 3 that this was an intentional narrative structure. It takes 7 rounds of play to win a Grand Slam tournament (assuming you don't have to first play the qualifying rounds). So each chapter focuses on a round, leading up to the final in Chapter 7. But the chapters also have a theme to them that focuses more on Andy's backstory rather than a detailed play-by-play of the associated round's match.
As Andy is one of my two favorite male players (Rafa Nadal being the other), I already knew quite a bit about his background, key events in his young career, how Ivan Lendl helped coach him to his 1st Grand Slam (the 2012 US Open), etc. Still I did learn some interesting things - most notably, I had no idea that Novak Djokovic had considered becoming a player for Britain in his very early days on the tour.
Reading this book now in 2023, one has the perspective of knowing of events to come. How the dominance of the Big 3 would continue nearly unchallenged until just the last year or so - such that Andy would end up winning only one more Grand Slam (as of now) - Wimbledon 2016. How his hip issues would nearly cause his retirement 4 years ago after the 2019 Australian Open. How the metal hip surgery he subsequently had would allow him to start a comeback that continues now. How Andy Murray is now Sir Andy Murray.
Despite delaying reading this book until 2023, I still enjoyed it very much and found it especially poignant in light of this year's Australian Open heroics.

This book fulfilled the 2023 PopSugar prompt #16 - A book where the main character's name is in the title.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

prologue-
crazy hair in US open.

Judy was wearing jeans so struggled to get to the member's enclosure in 2006 Wimbledon.

Becker "mother's boy"
Judy's career stopped when her purse was stolen in Barcelona.
Andy's temper during tennis matches may be due to his parent's divorce.

The coach every cared about:
-murray a counter puncher
-murray socialized with coach Gilbert but did not socialise with Maclagan (coach)
-turned to coach Cahill
-Lendl brought authority
-Lendl brought a calmness.

A body like a machine:
-Murray trained with Michael Johnson
-hates bananas
-Murray believes boxing and tennis are similar
-Judy called Lopez (tennis player) "deliciano"

Family life
-Kim drinks alcohol
-Kim reads more than Andy (andy has only read wrestling and boxing magazines)
-dog - Maggie May.
- Murray bought a house worth "£5 million"
-2009 Sears moved to her parents house.

Fame and fortune
-Murray had a ferrari... Then an Aston Martin

Champion!
-2012 he won the US open first male Britain to win a singles grand slam for 76 years.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Goes behind the scenes into coaching, preparation, the mental game, pressure. Great book into the insight and life of Andy Murray and the gruelling effort it takes to win a championship.

[Andrew Dalgleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read especially if you are an Andy Murray fan. The focus of the book is Andy's win at Flushing Meadow at the 2012 US Open, and Hodgkinson drags the story of this tournament throughout the entire book. It can be a bit frustrating to read about a particular set in a match only to dive off into some background story for a chapter only then to return to the next set. His description of the events surrounding the US Open, plus an insight into Andy's life, aspirations and mindset are fantastic, so despite the chopping about this is well worth a read.

[Bustagroovy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read but very repetitive in parts. How many times do we need to hear that Andy Murray won the Olympics? Or his "joke" about supporting anyone but England in the World Cup? Or that Fred Perry was the last British Grand Slam winner 76 years ago? Lots apparently. This is going straight back to the library "withdrawn from stock" giveaway table where it came from.

[Gemma Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must if you are a tennis fan! Many references to the game and other players!

But for soul Andy Murray fans this book hits all the spots! Very informal, interesting and a great read!

Enjoyed more then his official biography!

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing man. Fantastic book. This gives you a real insight in to the man behind the racquet. A must read for all Muzzer and tennis fans.

[Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kolejna biografia tenisisty, ciekawa dla fana tenisa, ale niekoniecznie ciekawa dla szerszej publiczności. Parę interesujących faktów, które nieco gloryfikują, ale przybliżają ciekawą postać Murraya.

[Alina Cristea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes pleasant reading, I enjoyed it. I read it during the wrong Grand Slam tournament, though. :-)

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cut and paste job. Andy deserves better.