Where do you want your statue, Andy? John McEnroe backs the idea of building a statue of Andy Murray at Wimbledon. "He's one of the greatest competitors that I've ever seen play tennis. He's absolutely changed the way people look at British tennis." inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/a…
"Changed the way people look at British tennis": John McEnroe calls for Andy Murray statue at Wimbledon
ATPWednesday, 26 June 2024 at 10:30
Andy Murray should be recognised for changing the face of British tennis and should be given a statue at Wimbledon is the call made by tennis legend, John McEnroe.
Murray is likely heading towards his final Wimbledon campaign with the Brit initially mooted to be ruled out earlier this week due to an operation on a spinal cyst. He was also due to play with his brother Jamie in men's doubles as his swansong reaches its final chapters. But the mooting of him withdrawing was wide of the mark with Judy Murray slamming the fact that his medical details were leaked.
But whilst he may or may not play Wimbledon for the final time, his legacy will certainly live on at a tournament where he has long been lauded almost as their favourite son. He sealed it twice in 2013 and 2016 accounting for 2/3 of his majors in an era where it was almost impossible to win them due to the big three.
He famously beat Novak Djokovic in the latter final with the Serbian being fairly imperious on the surface. He has also battled injury problems and form woes as a subsequent factor and still shown resilience and resolve to keep fighting. So McEnroe believes he is due recognition. Which will come according to Wimbledon once he has confirmed he has retired from the sport with likely the ceremonies and such pomp and circumstance on standby if he does decide to retire this year.
“If I was making that decision, I would say absolutely, yes, because that's a long drought, 77 years. He's absolutely changed the way people look at British tennis. He's one of the greatest competitors that I've ever seen play tennis. It would be well deserved, and it'd be awesome, because two of his three Grand Slam wins were at Wimbledon plus the Olympics. So that would seem to make a whole lot of sense.”
“It would be awesome if Murray could have one last hurrah,” said the American. "He was part of the Big Four and he finished 2016 as the best player in the world,” he said. “So it's unfortunate that because of injuries, you don't hear about him the same way he did before. It is like the Big Three now. And he could have won more majors obviously. So he's still going to be considered one of the great players of his era.
“Obviously he's going to be below those other guys but so was everyone else. So he's had a tremendous career. Unfortunately, most careers don't end the way you want them to. I don't think that you can take away from the accomplishments.”
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