Andy Murray made you care. That was his superpower. There were better players in his era; there were more stylish ones. But none possessed the ability to make you invest emotionally in their matches as much as Murray did.
When he arrived on the scene as a scruffy 18-year-old in 2005, Murray seemed to experience tennis as I’d always experienced it: as an unbelievably frustrating sport that seemed almost designed to wind you up. Even saying “Take your time, you d**k” after missing a serve, as Murray once did, wasn’t that odd to me.
On the court, his complete determination, raw emotions and supreme athleticism added to his appeal — and throughout it all, he was a potent combination of the superhuman and the relatable.
Bonds were strengthened with those people who could see how great and thoughtful Murray really was. “If you don’t like Andy Murray then we can’t be friends” became a good mantra to live by. Clearly, this was all unhinged.
But that’s the thing: Andy Murray made you care. Dive deeper into the player, and the man, below.
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Andy Murray Wimbledon tribute: How his tennis and his titles played with our hearts
