The Tennis Podcast: The secret turmoil of Judy Murray
Little did people know that when Andy Murray won Wimbledon for the first time in 2013, his mother felt unable to celebrate with him after years of being branded a ‘pushy mother’.
In a new interview with The Tennis Podcast, Judy Murray describes the inner turmoil that was raging inside her as she watched her son clamber up the stands to celebrate with his team, friends and family.
“The main feeling when he won the final point was just complete and utter relief, but he didn’t see me when he climbed up because I was sitting a few rows away from the player box,” Murray told The Tennis Podcast presenter, Catherine Whitaker. “I could have gone over to him quite easily, but the reason I didn’t was because of all of the years of being criticised for being a pushy mum - overbearing, overly-competitive - all these things that I had had to put up with from the media for so many years. I thought: ‘I can’t go down there because I’ll get it again.’ I only felt able to go down to him when the crowd started shouting at him, ‘what about your mum?’ It’s a really interesting thing that that’s what held me back.”
Murray says that she felt able to speak out more confidently after that victory for Andy, and a book tour for her autobiography, Knowing The Score: My Family and Our Tennis Story, had proved cathartic as she talked through her journey and the criticism she had received over the years.
The podcast also re-lives the 2013 final against Novak Djokovic, the lead-up and the aftermath, as part of The Tennis Podcast’s ‘Wimbledon Re-Lived’ series. All 14 editions are now available to listen to here - https://podfollow.com/the- tennis-podcast.
The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, daily at the Grand Slams (with Tennis Re-Lived running in the absence of any live tennis), and is crowdfunded by listeners every December.
