Andrew Murray (tennis player)

Andrew (Andy) Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish tennis player born in Dunblane, Stirling, Scotland. He prefers to play on clay courts but seems more than comfortable on grass. Murray is 185 cm tall and generally uses a double-handed backhand.

2005 - the breakthrough year

Stepping up to the seniors

Just prior to the French Open, Murray turned professional and played his first senior tournament, being given a wild card to an ATP International Series Gold clay-court event in Barcelona. He lost in the first round to Jan Hernych.

Related Topics:
Wild card - ATP - International Series Gold - Barcelona - Jan Hernych

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This got Murray his first senior ranking point - and he was soon handed a second wild card for the Stella Artois championship at Queens, beating Santiago Ventura and highly-rated American Taylor Dent on his way to reaching the third round, before losing to sixth seed Thomas Johansson in three sets, after picking up an injury - sustained while collapsing with cramp when just two points away from victory. This ankle injury forced him to withdraw from another grass warm-up for Wimbledon, the Nottingham Open.

Related Topics:
Stella Artois championship - Queens - Santiago Ventura - Taylor Dent - Thomas Johansson - Ankle

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Wimbledon 2005

Andrew Murray's performance in tournaments such as the Roland Garros and the Queen's Club Championships was rewarded with a Wimbledon wildcard. He went into his first senior grand slam match at Wimbledon 2005 ranked 374th in the world, comfortably beating George Bastl - ranked over 150 places above him - in straight sets. In his second round match he beat the fourteenth seed Radek Stepánek, also in straight sets, a match he had been widely expected to lose. He was the first Scottish person in the Open era to reach round three at Wimbledon, and was the only Briton remaining in the men's or ladies' singles championship. Murray's run in Wimbledon 2005 came to an end when he was beaten by David Nalbandian in five sets, after leading by two sets to love.

Related Topics:
Wimbledon - George Bastl - Radek Stepánek - Scottish - Open era - Briton - David Nalbandian

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After the match against Stepanek, Murray showed typical teenage embarassment in his mum with this quote:

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:"I was pretty happy with the way I played and you could see that by the celebrations and my mum making an idiot of herself".

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While the British media and public bemoaned the fact that this was the first Wimbledon for many years without any home representation in the second week, this was not technically correct - Murray and his mixed doubles partner Shahar Peer of Israel played in their first round match the following Monday. The match, which was postponed to the second week due to rain delays, was somewhat of an anticlimax with Murray and Peer losing in two sets.

Related Topics:
Shahar Peer - Israel

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During the tournament he also managed to get Henman Hill christened as Murray Mound/Mount and Murrayfield (in reference to the stadium in Edinburgh under the same name) due to his performances, and Henmania became Andymonium - but whether these names will stick is debatable.

Related Topics:
Henman Hill - Henmania

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Mark Petchey, who had been coaching Murray through the early part of that grass court season was then confirmed as the player's full time coach, Murray stating:

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:"I'm so pleased to have Mark as my coach, I respect him a great deal. He has helped me massively over the last few weeks and I am excited to work with him moving forward."

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US Hardcourts

Murray set off to another grass court tournament, the Hall of Fame Championships, Rhode Island - a title currently held by Murray's Davis Cup teamate Greg Rusedski. The promising youngster got a wild card to this event. He reached the last 16 before being defeated by Anthony Dupuis. He then went on to win the Aptos, California Challenger Series hardcourt event without dropping a set, beating American Rajeev Ram in the final. He followed up claiming his first title by competing in the RCA Championship International Series event where he gained a wild card entry. He defeated American Jesse Witten 6-4 6-2 in the first round and lost to seeded American Mardy Fish in the second round. He continued to perform well in Challengers, with quarter-final appearances at Granby and Vancouver before taking his second title at Binghamton.

Related Topics:
Rhode Island - Greg Rusedski - Anthony Dupuis - Aptos, California - Challenger Series - Rajeev Ram - RCA Championship - Jesse Witten - Mardy Fish

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A wildcard afforded him entry to the Cincinnati ATP Master Series event where he again caused an upset by defeating the big-serving American, Taylor Dent. However, in his first match against a top-10 ranked opponent, Marat Safin proved too strong and beat Andy 6-4 1-6 6-1. Still, an improved ranking of 122 was his reward. His goal was to enter the world top 100 by the end of the year.

Related Topics:
Taylor Dent - Marat Safin

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US Open 2005

Andrew Murray did not receive a Wildcard entry for the 2005 US Open, therefore he had to go through the qualifiers. He succeded and played his first match in the US Open 2005 on Tuesday 30th August. His opponent was Andrei Pavel, the Romanian and formerly seeded 13th. It was a close match, with Murray winning the first set, then Pavel winning the second and third, with Murray then going on to win a fourth. In the early stages of the fifth set, Murray complained of being in pain and he suddenly vomited on the court, to the surprise of the audience. There was a 21 minute break as Murray left the court and the court was made suitable for play. Murray then returned and it began to look like Pavel was creeping back into the game after Murray's illness. However, Murray quickly regained his stride and won the final set.

Related Topics:
30th August - Andrei Pavel

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He played the second round on Friday, 2nd September against the Frenchman, Arnaud Clement. Many predidcted Murray would win, but at first it seemed very unlinkely, as he was 2 sets down. Murray later went on to win the 3rd and 4th set. But again, injury affected him and he received a slight injury in his leg. He went on to lose the 5th set 6-0. This was a blow to Murray, as he would have ascended into the top 100 rankings for the first time in his life if he had won that match. However, he still increased his ranking greatly from its previous number.

Related Topics:
2nd September - Arnaud Clement

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Thailand Open

On the 29th September he finally reached the top 100, when he beat Robin Soderling in the Thailand Open. He reached his first ATP final by beating Paradorn Srichaphan in the semi-finals. He lost to World no.1 Roger Federer in the final, but was by no means overwhelmed, mounting a challenge to Federer in the second set and was at one point in the lead of the second set. Nevertheless he receieved his first piece of silverware in an adult tournament for being runner-up and also received a cheque for 45,000 US Dollars. His world ranking after the Thailand Open was 72.

Related Topics:
Robin Soderling - Thailand Open - Paradorn Srichaphan - Roger Federer

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