Exclusive interview: Jamie Murray making up for lost time

Becoming a Grand Slam champion in men’s doubles for the first time by winning the Australian Open in January with his new partner Bruno Soares, was another step up.

And then, most gloriously of all, Murray hit the top of the rankings in April and will go into Wimbledon as the world No 1, the best player on the planet, the first British man to be ranked No 1 in singles or doubles.

It is an honour he earned with blood, sweat and more than a few tears along the way, but one he richly deserves. Murray has taken more than his share of knocks, and made more than his share of mistakes but, crucially, he has come out the other side a stronger person and a better player.

“I know what it’s like on the other side of the coin, to be struggling, have your ranking dropping, not be in the tournaments you want to play in, scratching around to find partners,” the 30-year-old said yesterday, seemingly relaxed and confident in his new-found surroundings at the top. “I think that makes you appreciate success more, the high points, because you do know what the low points look like. There have definitely been some low moments in my career and now I am just trying to enjoy the good points, the good situation I find myself in.

“I am motivated to keep working hard to be at this level, to be fighting for Grand Slams, Masters Series, for No 1. It’s a lot more fun than playing Challenger Doubles and not having a regular partner, not making any money from the sport, that’s for sure.”

It is a far cry from 2012 when Murray was seriously considering giving up the game. He was, as he says, struggling for a regular partner. He was finding life on the road lonely and, quite simply, not enjoying his job.

A reunion in 2013 with famed Canadian coach Louis Cayer, the man who helped him begin his career on Tour, was the catalyst for his renaissance and, having finally formed a regular partnership with the Australian, John Peers, Murray found his way back. Cayer, who had helped a number of players to the world’s top 10, including the likes of Daniel Nestor, worked with Murray in the early part of his career, moulding his game as he made his way on Tour.

The Canadian had the patience, maturity and lack of ego to allow Murray to go his own way for a while, watching painfully as he struggled, and then had the generosity to be there when, having failed, his former pupil came calling again.

“Louis was a massive reason for me getting to where I am today,” Murray said. “We started to work together again in May, June 2013 and he had a plan for me, what he thought I needed to do to get to the top of the game and be one of the world’s best doubles players.

“He asked me to trust him and I was happy to do that. I’d tried my own way the previous couple of years. I knew I had a good partner in John as well. I thought we could do good things together, especially with Louis’ influence. I was ready to give it full commitment, make it work and max out on what I could achieve.”

In 2012, Murray had hit rock bottom, playing with 15 different partners and never finding any solidity or consistency.

With Peers in tow and Cayer on board, he regained his confidence, improved his serve and returns and the pair enjoyed success, reaching the final of Wimbledon 12 months ago and the US Open shortly after.

“Wimbledon, that was always the tournament I want to win the most, and of course, that was my first Grand Slam final,” Murray said. “I didn’t know if I was necessarily going to get to another one or, if I was, when that was going to be. It could have easily been my only chance to do it.”

Murray and Peers missed out again in the final of last year’s US Open but qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals in London and ended the year ranked inside the top 10, while Murray played a huge role in helping Britain to Davis Cup glory.

A switch of partner, brave in hindsight, to the Brazilian Bruno Soares, was the final piece in the jigsaw and the pair won the title in Melbourne at the start of this year, with a proud Andy Murray watching his brother from the stands. Four years after he almost threw his racquets away, then, does Murray feel he is fulfilling an ability he always possessed?

He says: “I guess so. I think I did have a great talent to do good things in tennis. But it took me a long time to understand how best to use it, understand what it took to be a performer, to turn up each day and do what needed to be done to perform well on that particular day.

“I think now, more often than not, I am putting in a good level of performance in my matches. Over the course of the year you probably play 10 per cent amazing matches, 10 per cent rubbish and the other 80 per cent is what you need to make sure your level of performance is high enough to get the win on those days.

“I think that’s what tennis is about. You can’t play your best every time you step on the court, but it’s about learning how to win and how to use your skills to get the best performance you possibly can out of yourself on that day.”

MURRAY is often asked about life in his brother’s shadow, but it is something he has never resented. Andy’s biggest fan, he is nothing but supportive of everything his younger sibling has done. If anything, he regrets not having been able to put himself in the limelight sooner.

“I would probably rather have been getting attention all my career because that would have meant I was doing a lot better for a lot longer,” he said. “I look at it like I’ve had an amazing 12-18 months and I’ve done a lot of great things, but I still know that I’ve been playing professional tennis since I was 18, effectively, and I am 30 now. There’s probably eight to 10 years where I could have been doing better than I was, certainly between 2009 and 2013 I could have done a lot more with my game to get a lot more out of myself than I probably did.”

In a setting like Wimbledon, where the tennis world is truly international, Britain’s decision this week to vote to leave the European Union has been a hot topic.

Murray said he had followed the build-up to the referendum closely and while he said he wanted to keep his vote private, he said he had been surprised at the outcome.

“I followed it a lot the last few days and the lead-up to it. I voted by post, two or three weeks ago. I think with these sort of things, people don’t really know what’s going to happen. When you leave there are no certainties and you think people are more likely to stick with what they have. It’s not like Britain was doing terribly inside the EU, certainly not. I assumed it [would be a vote to remain]. I guess the chances of [another Scottish referendum on independence] are a lot higher now that Britain is out of the EU. Sixty-two per cent of Scotland voted to remain so I guess that’s another decision the Sottish people didn’t want and I am sure that’s a great possibility.”

WHEN his career is over, Murray would like to help young players in Scotland reach their potential and he hopes his mother Judy’s plans to open an academy are eventually given the green light.

But, at 30, Murray is in his absolute prime in doubles, an event where players regularly compete at the top until closer to 40.

His maturity has been evident on and off the court, in the way he conducts himself and the way he discusses big issues, including drugs, in the spotlight again after the suspension of Maria Sharapova.

Murray said he has been tested frequently but admits more could and perhaps should be done.

“I was tested a few days ago in my house, at six in the morning, and I’ve been tested a few times in tournaments this year,” he said: “Would I say I’ve been tested enough? In an ideal world, probably not. I guess you would you want people being tested every week but that costs money I am sure the anti-doping authorities don’t have, so it’s difficult.

“I honestly can’t say I’ve ever played a tennis match and thought, ‘shit, this guy on the other side of the court is not right, what he’s doing,’ I’ve never thought a player I’ve played against might be cheating or anything like that. Maybe that is being naïve but I have never really felt that.”

For this year, there remain two big goals; Wimbledon and then the Olympics, where he and Andy will join forces for a third time, having gone out early in 2008 and at London in 2012.

“London for me was a massive disappointment, a huge anti-climax,” Murray said. “I didn’t even get the full Olympic experience. We played at Wimbledon, staying at home in Wimbledon, and we lost in the first round, I didn’t play a good match.

“Four years on, things have changed a lot and we’re both playing the best tennis of our careers, I think. We’ll be going to Rio full of confidence and look forward to competing.”

First, though, it’s Wimbledon, the tournament Murray wants to win most of all and where he and Soares will begin against another Scot in Colin Fleming, alongside Israel’s Jonathan Erlich.

“I think every time we enter the tournament, we try to win it,” he said. “My ranking is No 1 in the world and we’re seeded three, so we’re always going to be going in as one of the favourites.

“I think the first round will be very tough. Colin and Jonny are experienced doubles players and we’ll have to fight super hard to get through that. At the moment our mind is just on that first-round match. But we’ve been practising well the last week and I think we’re ready to go.”