Jamie Murray at Insta-Live: "I was just average as a junior"
On Wednesday, Christopher Kas hosted two double greats on tennisnetnews'Instagram livestream . Jamie Murray took a long time, then Alexander Peya also gave exciting insights.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 16, 2020, 10:11 am
"Kasi" reached Murray in London, where the Scotsman lives. During the Corona period, he only left the house three times to go shopping - although the weather is excellent for British standards.
Murray gave an insight into the beginning of the professional careers of both Murray brothers. Mother Judy was a tennis coach at the club in Dunblane, and the family lived just a minute away from the tennis courts.
Judy often took Jamie and Andy with her. "We probably just got in the way and annoyed the other kids," Murray said. Together with his younger brother Andy, he practiced many sports, played football and golf, but remained primarily tennis, because both were the most talented in this discipline.
“My career was by no means just uphill. I was just average as a junior, ”said Murray. "I was bad in single. Fortunately, it went better in doubles, so I quickly focused on it. ”
What drove him to make this decision? “My basic strokes are bad, the forehand is terrible, but I adapted it for the doubles. I started blocking the returns and improving my praise. So I remained unpredictable. "
In addition to Colin Fleming, Andy Murray also joined the Insta-Live, the former world leader did not miss teasing Kasi because of his poor performance in fantasy basketball.
# IMG2 #
Meanwhile, Jamie praised his mother Judy's attitude and talent as training - especially for children. "Our mother has a bad image because she came across as intrusive on TV when Andy first played at Wimbledon and the cameras showed her," said Jamie, who denied this trait.
Murray, who achieved his best individual placement with 834 in 2006, has won 23 double titles in his career, most of them with Bruno Soares. “He sees the game very differently and we complement our game ideally. Even if that's a terrible cliché for double players, ”said Murray.
“With Bruno it was easy to stay mentally positive. We have lost both Grand Slam finals. That was our big goal, to which we subordinated everything. We won the Australian Open four weeks later. We knew we were hard to beat. We have played in the top of the world for five years now. ”
In addition to his successes in the men's doubles, Murray has won five Grand Slam Mixed titles so far. "I played with big names like Jankovic, Hingis or Mattek-Sands, so I was very lucky," said Murray.
And further: “Tactically I like the mixed. Women don't cover as much space, which makes the return easier for me. I do not have enough strength to thunder the ball past men for them. I annoy my opponents with my presence on the net, which is good for me in mixed. The Lefty-Serve can be terrible for women. ”
Alexander Peya: "Would like to get off to a flying start"
Alexander Peya is someone who has often felt this impact in the men's doubles. The Austrian still has an injury after two operations on the right elbow and is still in the rehabilitation phase.
“I was on the tennis court a month and a half before Corona. I haven't fully used it yet. It's going in the right direction, ”he said on Wednesday. “It's not that easy mentally. I always have to motivate myself again. "
In 2010, after a bitter five-set loss in Wimbledon's qualification, he decided to focus on the doubles. Against Ivan Dodig, he was already in the lead with two sets, was the better player, but ultimately lost the match. "It kind of broke me mentally. After that, the main focus was on the double, ”said Peya.
Most recently, he worked as an ORF expert and as a tauring coach for Sebastian Ofner. "It was a lot of fun to get the feeling of a tournament," said Peya, who is still aiming for a comeback on the double tour. He currently has a protected ranking of 19.
“You can play in every tournament. I get 12 opportunities within a year because I've been away for over a year. I can play a brutal calendar. Maybe I'll get wild cards. I don't normally come into Challenger because I don't have a ranking. I would like to start all over again. The good shape before the injury makes it even more difficult to draw a line. ”