Name: Andy Murray
DOB: 15 May 1987
Country: Great Britain
Residence: London, England
Height: 6' 3
Turn Pro: 2005
Racquet:Head YOUTEK Radical Pro
Andy Murray was born on May 15, 1987 and is best known for his capabilities as a versatile tennis player – although he is more comfortable with playing on clay courts, he also manages to shine on the grass also. Born in Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland, he is of Scottish origin. He is no doubt fit to be an athlete at a tall 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) and is known to more than often use a double-handed backhand.
Early Career
Murray won the Orange Bowl when he was 12 years old, and then went on to win the US Open tennis Boy’s championship title at age 17 in September of 2004. In a matter of two weeks since his last win, he managed to land a spot in the Great Britain’s squad that would compete in the Davis Cup against Austria. However, he did not participate in the match that resulted in a 3-2 loss. In December, Murray was awarded the prestigious Young Sports Personality of the Year from the BBC network.
Entering the Spotlight
After Murray’s participation in the Davis Cup, he was once again selected for the squad in 2005. However, he would now partake in a doubles match against Israel, and thus he became the youngest player of Britain to ever be a Davis Cup player.
Murray and his partner ultimately won the Davis Cup match against Israel, surprising both the spectators and the media. It came as a surprise because the Israel team was ranked as the eighth best pair in the world and also played in the 2003 semi-final in the Wimbledon. Murray’s pair won by a 3-2 score.
Then, Murray continued on to compete in the French Open semi-finals of the Boy’s tournament, but this would be his last event in the Junior league before his entrance into the Grand Slams.
Moving Up to the Senior Level
Before his appearance at the French Open, Murray turned pro and played at the ATP International Series in the Gold clay-court matches with a wild card. His first tennis match as a senior ended up in a loss against Jan Hernych.
Thereafter, Murray was able to receive his first senior “ranking point” and got another wild card to play at the Stella Artois Championship that took place at Queens Club in England. Murray rushed to victory as he defeated the highly skilled American player Taylor Dent and Santiago Ventura before he reached the third round. Then, he ended up losing a three set match against sixth seed Thomas Johansson due to an injury. However, despite his injury, he forced himself to play in the match until he collapsed with a cramp. He was two points from winning. His ankle injury ultimately caused him to lose his spot for the grass warm-up in the Wimbledon.
Random Facts
Murray was predicted to lose for all of his first four senior matches – one in which he won against Dent, one in which he almost won against Johansson (two points away), one in which he won against Stepanek, and one in which he lost 2-0 against Nalbandian. Murray talked about this publicly, thus receiving comments that he is quite clever.
Murray has made it a personal vow to attend to all the autographs that is he is asked for, due to a childhood incident in which he was ignored by his idol Andre Agassi at the Wimbledon.
Murray gets very annoyed at incompetent journalists (most being American) that refer to him as English because he is actually of Scottish origin.