An audience with Sir Andy includes his most candid revelations yet, including an impulse buy after a break-up and a major clue as to why his partnership with Novak Djokovic ended

There is an almighty roar from the back of the auditorium - the sort normally reserved for the sports field and almost never heard in a theatre.
But this is no ordinary evening. It is an audience with the usually reticent Sir Andy Murray and he is being unusually candid in front of an adoring crowd.
We hear about the time he traded in his wife for a Ferrari, how he was accidentally high at the start of a match - and we get the inside scoop on why the curtain came down on his coaching partnership with Novak Djokovic.
This is Andy Murray, Centre Stage, an event touted as 'a rare opportunity to be in the company of one of the world's most beloved and entertaining athletes'.
Sir Andy is a bag of nerves as the evening begins, clearly anxious about being under the theatre lights and telling the audience he was terrified no one would show up.
The national treasure needn't have worried. Not only is the 3,000-seater SEC in Glasgow sold out, he's in safe hands with a crowd who quite literally cheer him on throughout.
The opening gambit from host Andrew Cotter - the 'lesser of the two Andrews', as he jokes - is a question about Djokovic.
Sir Andy was briefly appointed as coach to the 24-time Grand Slam champion. They worked together through the Australian Open, where the Serb reached the semi-finals before being forced to retire injured. Shortly afterwards, a split was announced.
'We had a chat on the phone and he asked me if I would consider coaching him, which I wasn't expecting,' Murray told the audience.
'I thought I should give it a go and see whether I enjoyed it.' There was a pause. 'I'm not sure if I did.'
Frustratingly, Cotter failed to push for any more information, instead taking Sir Andy on to his love of golf, which he plays four times a week when his children are at school.
In heartwarming revelations about his family life growing up, he spoke of his grandparents' dogs and said he and his wife Kim have just welcomed a black retriever puppy into their home.
The intimate atmosphere is helped by the audience being banned from whipping out mobile phones, instead having to lock devices away in special pouches.
Sir Andy recalls how, when he was 15, he had the choice of playing for Rangers or trying for a professional tennis career.
With the mere mention of 'Rangers' there are roars of approval from sections of the audience and good-natured boos elsewhere, but there is also a strong sense that the crowd are happy tennis was his sport of choice.
At 17 he was faced with another choice - train at the Lawn Tennis Association academy in Sutton or move to Barcelona.
'I don't know if many of you have been to Sutton ... but I chose to go to the academy in Spain,' Murray deadpanned.
'I loved it there. Those are the years where, if I could go back in time, that would be the time I would go back to.'
Throughout the two-hour event, Sir Andy is self-effacing and the very model of understated charm.
His knighthood, he said, is 'not something I think about'. He never dreamed of great tennis success, he 'just wanted to be good enough to play at the major events. I never thought I was going to end up winning them'.
Sometimes the public perception of Murray caused him real pain, the interest in his talents beginning when he was 15.
As his success grew, so did media attention. It 'changed massively, overnight, and it was initially exciting and fun to do press conferences and have people taking pictures of you,' he said. 'And it's nice, but you're not properly prepared for it.
'The media in Great Britain can be pretty harsh and the mood changes fast. At first you're a breath of fresh air, who speaks his mind, to being a moody teenager.
'People start talking about how you speak, how you look, how you behave, the things you should be doing differently.
'A lot of the pundits are people you've looked up to, people you've watched on TV. It's hard. You take what they're saying to heart.'
Then came his infamous 'anyone but England' response to being asked who he would support at the football World Cup - after being mocked by Tim Henman that Scotland would not be there.
'A lot of the fan mail would come to your locker [at Wimbledon] at that time and there was a lot of abusive mail.
'I remember walking to the court for one of my mixed doubles matches and someone was on the phone and just went: 'There's that f***ing Scottish guy'. I was 19 at the time.
'I was very miserable, and I'm aware of that, but it changed my relationship with the media. I felt unbelievably defensive and very guarded.'
Growing up in the spotlight was hard, even with close family support, and it had a knock-on effect on his relationship when Kim was his girlfriend.
When he was 21, he and Kim split up and, in response, he bought a Ferrari.
'I thought that was going to be a cool thing to do.
'When I first took it out on the road I was pulled over by the police. Not because I was driving too quickly but because the insurance hadn't gone through yet.
'This was literally within two or three minutes of driving on the road with it.'
Murray got rid of the car after a couple of months, having never driven it again.
His success allowed the public to warm to him, he said, and that warmth is clear in the SEC - the audience gripped by his every word.
Mum Judy Murray joined him on stage to talk about the effects of watching her boy struggle and win, struggle and win.
'When he won Wimbledon, it was complete and utter relief,' said Judy.
'It always helped me through the boys' journeys that I was a coach, as well as obviously being a parent, because I was always able to look at a match analytically and look for the things that could be improved.
'So I wasn't just entirely caught up in the emotion of it, but when I saw how much the loss in 2012 (at Wimbledon) affected Andy and watching him give the speech on court when he lost, they were really, really difficult moments.
'People forget that everything is relatively easy when you win, but dealing with the defeats and the disappointments is incredibly tough, not just for the player, but for everybody around the player.'
Andy revealed there was a time when he wished the 'When are you going to win Wimbledon?' questions would stop. Instead it became 'Are you going to win again?' after his 2013 triumph.
Asked if he was bothered about Djokovic, Roger Federder and Rafael Nadal being termed as the Big Three during his era, he was characteristically modest.
'It's not something I lose any sleep over at night,' he said.
'I'm fully aware that those guys, what they've achieved is far greater than anything I've done.
'And I would never claim to be on the same level as them...'
It's hard to hear the end of his answer as the audience calls out 'You are, yes you are'.
Sir Andy is candid about the emotional side of the game and brutally honest about his physical trials.
Hip problems started when he was 21 and he went to see a specialist after the Australian Open.
Sir Andy was told that, because of the particular shape of his hips, they might cause him problems later in his career.
He was offered an operation to potentially help with the issues - but it held no guarantees so he turned it down.
It was only in 2016, after the Olympics, when the hip started to become a problem in matches.
At the end of 2016, he lost from two sets to one up in the US Open quarter-finals, and lost from two sets to one up in the Davis Cup against Juan Martin del Potro.
'At the end of these matches, the long matches, I was really struggling to use my right leg properly,' he said.
In January 2018, Murray had his first hip operation with the surgeon he had initially seen in Australia.
By this point there was no cartilage left in his hip, just bone rubbing on bone.
Before a match at Wimbledon in 2017, during warm up running drills, Murray was in so much pain he cried. To get him through the match he took a codeine tablet for the first time.
'I had never had one before,' he said. 'And I was totally spaced out at the beginning of that match.
'Usually I'm quite nervous but I just remember looking around thinking: 'What's going on out here'?'
Cotter joked: 'Usually as commentators we think we know what's going on. Now, if I could go back in time, I'd say he was clearly off his t*ts.'
When Murray had revealed that his hip caused him so much pain he would cry at night, one commentator in the US remarked how 'beautiful' it was that the Scot was so emotional about tennis.
'No,' he said, 'I was in so much pain I couldn't sleep at night.'
He had lost sensation in his right leg and it emerged he had a cyst that was pushing on his spinal cord.
Due to have surgery right before Wimbledon, he knew he was going to retire after the Olympics but was worried he wouldn't make it.
Now, he has no such fears. 'Honestly, I don't miss tennis at all,' he said. 'And that was something I was really worried about.
'But I don't miss hitting a tennis ball. I'm happy just doing stuff with my kids and my family, just doing normal stuff.'
The evening ends with a photo reel of family pictures. In one, it is Halloween and Sir Andy is dressed as a clown. None of the other parents are dressed up. 'I got properly stitched up with that,' he said.
His children, he added, stopped their tennis lessons because 'they just weren't very good at it'. But, he is sanguine about this, as he is with so much else. Murray just wants them to be happy and, after all the ups and downs of professional life, he seems truly happy himself.
As a theatre audience in Glasgow can testify.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Record

36 minutes ago

• Daily Record

Superheroes from West Lothian stay safe around water thanks to innovative education approach

The campaign is rooted in the Learn to Swim national framework. Swimming lessons are being transformed into water safety workshops for superheroes in a bold and innovative approach by West Lothian Leisure. Vital water safety education is being imbedded across all its sporting disciplines – inspired and led by the Learn to Swim programme. ‌ The campaign is rooted in the Learn to Swim national framework, a partnership between Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water. ‌ West Lothian Leisure is now taking the core principles of Learn to Swim even further during Drowning Prevention Week. Instead of regular practice, swimming lessons across the trust are being transformed into water safety workshops and uniquely, coaches from gymnastics, football, badminton and golf are also delivering water safety messages through fun, creative activities. At the heart of the initiative is the 'Superheroes – Call 999!' theme, where children dress as their favourite superheroes while learning the Water Safety Code. The campaign spans all ages, from baby and adult swimming classes to sports sessions for young people, ensuring more families across West Lothian receive life-saving knowledge. To ensure maximum impact, West Lothian Leisure coaches underwent targeted training and held a dedicated focus cay. Throughout Drowning Prevention Week, water safety was reinforced through interactive learning, games, and competitions at venues across the region. The National Water Safety Forum reported that tragically in 2024 there were 33 accidental drownings in Scotland, highlighting the critical importance of water safety education heading into summer. ‌ Lorraine Pollock, sports development manager at West Lothian Leisure, said: 'This initiative is powered by our participation in the Learn to Swim programme. Drowning Prevention Week is the perfect moment to showcase how water safety can reach far beyond swimming lessons. 'We've made it our mission to get every child – whether they're in the pool, on the football pitch or in the gym – engaging with water safety in a way that's fun, memorable, and potentially life-saving. "Through our 'Superheroes – Call 999!' theme, we're making safety relatable for families across West Lothian.' ‌ West Lothian Leisure is one of 38 delivery partners of the Learn to Swim programme, a Scotland-wide initiative that equips children with skills for life – both in and around the water. John Lunn, CEO of Scottish Swimming, said: 'This is a fantastic example of the Learn to Swim ethos in action. West Lothian Leisure's all-sport approach demonstrates innovative thinking and shows how the programme can be adapted to reach even more families and communities with crucial water safety messages.' ‌ Peter Farrer, chief operating officer at Scottish Water, added: 'We cannot over-emphasise the importance of water safety all year round, but it's particularly relevant over summer months when people are often more likely to be around water. 'So, it's great that Xcite are rolling their water safety sessions out beyond swim lessons and will reach even more people with the vital knowledge and skills to help them feel safer in, on and around water.' Drowning Prevention Week, organised by the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS), is one of the largest water safety campaigns in the UK and Ireland. It aims to equip everyone with the skills and knowledge to stay safe around water. ‌ The Learn to Swim National Framework helps more than 82,000 children build confidence and skills in the water every week across 167 pools in Scotland.

BreakingNews.ie

an hour ago

• BreakingNews.ie

28 Years Later review: Another relentless apocalyptic horror from Danny Boyle

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have produced another horror masterpiece with 28 Years Later , the third instalment in the '28 Days' universe. The director and writer were not heavily involved in the followup, '28 Weeks Later', but they make a triumphant return in the new film. It is partly shot on iPhones, something introduced by Boyle with 28 Days later, and this contributes to the frantic and anxiety-inducing pace of the film as our new protagonisted go up against the infected. Advertisement This includes new additions to the creatures that were produced about the rage virus, including the terrifying 'alphas' who are able to effortlessly rip people's heads off. While the film is full of the action we saw in its two predecessors, Boyle and Garland manage to include a commentary on British society. With the rest of the world operating as normal as the 21st century rages on, Britain is quarantined to keep the infected from reaching the rest of the world, with navies patrolling its waters. In a remote island, survivors life a primitive but peaceful and safe existence, accessible to the foreboding 'mainland' only by a causeway only accessible when the tide recedes. Advertisement With Britain stuck in the past, it's hard to avoid the intended Brexit parable. This is only accentuated by Boyle's use of black and white World War footage, and a haunting score which includes 1903 poem " Boots " by Rudyard Kipling , recited by American actor Taylor Holmes. Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) brings his 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams) to the mainland to get his first kills in an almost ritualistic expedition, against the advice of the communiy's elders who warn that Spike is far too young. Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later. The horrors they encounter leave a mark on father and son, but Spike is determined to return to seek a cure for his seriously ill mother Islan ( Jodie Comer ). This is where we once again enconter Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). A key character in the first film, Dr Kelson steals the show once again. His descent into madness, looking like Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse now, isn't quite what it seems, despite the temple of skulls he has amassed. The ending sets things up nicely for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which is due for release in January 2026.

Daily Mail​

an hour ago

• Daily Mail​

Is Netflix actually pulling the strings of Meghan's business As Ever? The subtle clue she let slip

When Meghan Markle first stepped into the world of the Royal Family, she liked to portray herself as a UN ambassador and do-gooder environmentalist. But for the past few months, the Duchess of Sussex has been reinventing herself yet again.