Murray's fans confident about his time in the sun

Published>Mon, Feb 01 10 04:54 PM

London, Feb.1 (ANI): Fans of British tennis star in his hometown of Dunblane have said they are very proud of him reaching the Australian Open final, and while sad at his loss to Roger Federer, they say they are confident about him winning a Grand Slam title or titles one day.

"His time will come," said one supporter, adding "Win or lose, we're just terribly proud of him."

In truth, the game did not give Murray fans much to cheer about. Fairly rapidly, as Federer set about their local hero with a master class in clinically unbeatable tennis, any sense that this was to be Murray's day waned.

The tension then became a different kind: not in the possibility of the winning, but in the slow motion, teeth-gritted tenacity of the losing. Roars of approval at Murray's winning shots were so few and far between, that when they came some toddlers burst into tears at the noise.

"My daughter woke me up at 7.30 banging on the bedroom door," said Jaqui Walker, the mother of Chelsea, 11, who together watched the game at the Dunblane centre. "She was desperate to come and watch the game. Everyone in the school has been talking about it.

"There's a real sense of community around here. They care about Andy and they talk about him. It was lovely to be invited down here and although it's sad he was beaten he put up a great fight and I'm sure he'll be back," said another.

"Andy means such a lot to this town," said Ian Conway from Tennis Scotland, watching the game as avidly as any ordinary fan. "I've known him since he was ten, and known the Murray family for 25 years. There's a great loyalty there."

"Last summer, we were short of players for the North of Scotland Tennis team for a game in Eastbourne. I phoned Andy and said to him, 'I have an injury, get your backside down here'.

"He came and played and the next day he was sitting his driving test, and the day after that flying to America, but he still found time to phone and find out how we did. It was akin to a local non-league football team phoning up Wayne Rooney and asking him to play for them." (ANI)

Source: Web Search