Katie O’Brien: Time to give ‘stubborn’ Murray the credit he so richly deserves

Andy Murray is an inspiration to the rest of the British players – someone we all look up to. And it’s time he was given a break and due acknowledgement of all he has accomplished.

He’s never been one to care what other people think, but he must find it tough being under constant public scrutiny.

The British press can be ruthless at times. It amazes me how some people in this country regard Tim Henman as a failure because he never won Wimbledon.

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Getting to No 4 in the world and making four Wimbledon semi-finals is a fine achievement.

Andy has achieved even more and yet the British public will always be on his case unless he wins a grand slam or becomes world No 1. He has to deal with a lot of pressure – I’m sure he would appreciate other British tennis players breaking through to deflect the attention away from him a little.

He’s a great role model and his success on the world stage ought to encourage more youngsters from these shores to take up the game and follow in his footsteps.

British tennis is crying out for fresh talent.

You just have to watch him play to get a feel for his tactical astuteness.

It’s tough to communicate that in words. He’s so crafty.

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He has the whole package to be a potential grand slam winner and contend for that world No 1 ranking,

It’s just little things now that will make the difference.

Andy has a wise head on his shoulders, and I’m sure he will find the right coach to bring out the best in him.

It’s all about confidence. Look at Novak Djokovic for example.

He was really struggling at the beginning of last year, but how things have changed 12 months on; beating Andy in the final of the Australian Open and moving up to No 2 in the world.

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He started to string together a few good results at the end of last year, gained a bit more self belief and now he looks invincible.

I see Andy now and again, he’s quite a private person – which is perfectly understandable as he spends so much of his time in the spotlight.

I knew him much better as a junior before he moved on to far bigger things than me.

Andy and I are similar ages (he’s one year younger), so we were involved in quite a few of the same trips together.

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His mother Judy was the national coach for the Under-13 girls and his brother Jamie is the same age as me, so some trips I had the whole Murray clan with me.

Andy’s and Jamie’s talent for tennis was obvious from a young age and Judy did a great job in helping to nurture that. I was lucky to have grown up with them as I could learn a lot from watching them play.

I vaguely remember a trip to Holland when I was housed in the same family as Andy.

We spent the entire week at loggerheads and winding each other up. His stubbornness combined with my stubbornness was a recipe for disaster.

But that’s what it’s like for the life of a tennis player.

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I’m on the road about 25 weeks of the year. I think I managed about 35 weeks three or four years ago. I don’t think I could do that again though – I must be getting soft in my old age.

Tennis players have very demanding schedules.

There are tournaments on all over the world almost all year round. Our off-season is very short – it’s generally about six weeks at the end of the year.

Chasing ranking points and peaking for the big events is our main priority, but it’s equally important to factor in periods of rest to keep the body and mind fresh, as well as training blocks throughout the year to work on our games and top up our fitness.

I like the travelling, but I don’t enjoy being away from home for long periods of time and missing out on friends and family.

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It’s tough to maintain a stable social life when I’m away so much, but it’s one of the sacrifices tennis players have to make.

When I’m at home I work with the Lawn Tennis Association coaches at the National Tennis Centre, but I don’t have an individual coach as such.

More often than not, I travel to tournaments alone. I don’t mind it as I’m a fairly independent individual and I have a lot of experience behind me, but it’s not something I like to be doing every week.

It helps to have someone supporting in your corner.

It’s nice when there are other Brits around but unfortunately there isn’t a huge group of us on the professional circuit.

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There are normally plenty of players around to practice with, but I have to be adaptable sometimes. On the day of the final at a recent tournament in Australia, there were no players on site to warm up with me before my match. I ended up taking to the court with a 12-year-old girl who had just won the Australian Under-12 nationals.

Despite being so young, she actually gave me a surprisingly good warm up. I think she’s going to be a star of the future...and incidentally she was born in Yorkshire.

I get an allowance from the LTA to help offset the cost of international travel.

The expenses I accumulate over the course of a year are huge, so I’m very grateful for the financial assistance I’ve had from the LTA over the years.

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It’s tough to make ends meet when starting out on the professional tour as the prize money on offer very rarely covers costs at tournaments on the lower echelons of the tour.

It helps to have a good sponsor...or a rich set of parents.

However, there’s a lot of money to be made at the top end of the game so it’s worth sticking at it.