Murray shows he has the right attitude

I was still much taken by Andy Murray’s superb comeback against Frenchman Richard Gasquet in reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.

Perhaps at any other venue in the world he would have been knocked out in three straight sets; instead, he wore his heart on his sleeve, played to the crowd and deservedly won in the fifth set, with more than one flutter along the way.

One of those flutters came, surprising, from one of the BBC guest summarisers, who in the final set complained that Gasquet was losing partly because of the influence of the Wimbledon crowd, who Murray was inciting at times to urge him on. Of course it was probably off-putting to the Frenchman. However, he is a professional, and if the two men had been playing in the French Open I wonder whose side the crowd would have been on then?

I am reminded of the late, great Fred Perry, England’s last men’s Wimbledon champion, who came across in later years as a charming man and much-loved match commentator.

But, at the time of his success Perry was the first of a new breed of men. For he would, within the laws of the game, never show any sympathy to his opponent – at least on court. He was ruthlessness personified.

So, over the years, have been the likes of Laver, McEnroe, Borg and Sampras. The nice guys (including one of my own favourites, Ken Rosewall) never won Wimbledon because they lacked that total dedication not only to the game, but to a winning ethos.

It is an ethos which is also exemplified by Andy Murray’s mother, Judy, who I have been told is as tough as her son (and who will be visiting the Island on 16 July, when I hope to meet her).

To be a winner you have to think like a winner, and if that means using the crowd to help the adrenalin surge more forcefully through your veins, so be it.

I applauded Murray’s win – but there is one caveat. He is neither English nor a Jerseyman. He’s a Scot (even though his great-grandfather, apparently, was born and worked south of the border). And if he played rugby or football and not tennis for Scotland (sorry, Great Britain), I wouldn’t be that inclined to give him my 100 per cent support.