In Murray’s defence, Lu from Taiwan was playing uncharacteristically well. However he still should have been no challenge for the man dubbed to be the next Tim Henman and a favourite for the elusive Olympic gold.
Speaking after his unexpected win, an astonished Lu told reporters, “When I heard the draw at the airport I nearly went home but I thought I would come and learn what I could from Andy.”
Things then had gone from bad to worse when Murray, playing alongside his elder brother Jamie, stuttered in doubles against the formidable Canadian duo of Daniel Nestor and Frederic Niemeyer. A set down, it looked like the Murray brothers were destined to an early send-off from Beijing, empty-handed. Nevertheless they managed to inch their back into the game and eventually finished on a respectable 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 reigniting Britain’s tennis hopes once more—only to have them squashed underfoot by Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France in round two with an indisputable 6-1, 6-3. Oh well…bad luck Britain.
This seems hard to accept—especially since the Scottish-born Murray looked in top form having recently won his biggest achievement to date at the Cincinnati Masters where he successfully defeated Novak Djokovic along the way and rose to a career high of No. 6 seed.
Murray was trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona where he attended the Schiller International School when he was only fifteen. Murray describes separation from his family as “a big sacrifice” though surely training with the former No.1 doubles player Emilio Sánchez must have been worth it.
In 2004 he won the junior U.S. open and was chosen to play for the Davis Cup. Murray’s big break however came in 2005 when he turned professional, became the youngest player in the Davis Cup and even managed to fit in a bit of Wimbledon on the side – all in the short space of twelve months. From then on his career shot to dizzying heights, highlighted by his ascension to the ATP Top 10 in April 2006.
Despite his recent fallbacks in the Olympics it is clear that great deeds are still expected of Andy Murray…more Grand Slam titles, Wimbledon and who knows – maybe one day that elusive Olympic Gold.
