Britain’s two highest-ranked gamers – Katie Boulter and Jack Draper – have praised Andy Murray’s contribution to tennis in feedback that contrasted noticeably with Emma Raducanu’s a lot chillier take from Friday afternoon.
Raducanu had raised eyebrows on Friday by suggesting that Murray’s profession is “outdated information”, including that “it doesn’t really feel totally different in any respect [now that he has retired].”
The response to Raducanu’s feedback was blended. Some observers identified that it was factually appropriate – the sport does certainly cease for no one – whereas others speculated that her obvious coldness in the direction of Murray is likely to be related to the summer time’s controversy over her Eleventh-hour withdrawal from their deliberate mixed-doubles appointment at Wimbledon.
Both manner, there was a really totally different tone to Boulter’s take when she responded to an analogous query about Murray’s influence on Saturday.
“He’s been so effectively established within the British tennis system for thus lengthy now, he’s type of been the one holding us all up,” mentioned Boulter of Murray. “He’s been there the entire total time, and I don’t take that with no consideration. I feel every thing that he’s performed for us is unbelievable.
“I used to be there [at the National Tennis Centre in south-west London] since I used to be 13 years outdated, so I noticed him fairly a bit,” added Boulter, who’s now working with Murray’s former health coach Matt Little.
“I used to be clearly too scared to go as much as him and converse to him like just a little 14-year-old lady could be. However I feel simply even being in the identical environment as him, you’re feeling his presence, you’re feeling he’s in there. You see what he’s doing, you see how he’s working. I feel that confirmed me quite a bit about easy methods to work, and I feel that’s actually necessary.”
As Murray leaves the stage, having participated in 60 main tournaments over a 20-year interval, the 22-year-old Draper is the person almost definitely to take up his mantle. A left-hander with a booming serve and an assiduous work ethic, Draper beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s and received his first ATP Tour title earlier this summer time.
“I do miss his presence quite a bit,” mentioned Draper. “I grew up considering Andy could be essentially the most skilled man on the planet. And he’s. He’s mad about getting every thing excellent, watching video slow-mos of his serve and all this kind of stuff.
“While you’re within the locker room earlier than matches, and also you’ve acquired somebody as nice as Andy sat subsequent to you, it’s mad to be sitting subsequent to considered one of your idols from a younger age,” added Draper, who additionally made humorous point out of Murray’s messy habits and “rancid, stinking footwear”.
“To not have him right here anymore is clearly tough,” concluded Draper, who will play China’s Zhang Zhizhen on Tuesday in a difficult first-round match. “Possibly sooner or later he’ll be extra round on the teaching scene, doing his factor, however, yeah, I undoubtedly miss the camaraderie and the nonsense chat, and the banter, and the intense chats, as effectively, that he used to convey.”
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