Abu Dhabi: Andy Murray’s mother Judy insists there is no danger of the “fighter” Scot becoming complacent, despite him having become the world No. 1 for the first time last month.
And she is also adamant that family life with his wife Kim and baby daughter Sophia Olivia will not affect his untrammelled approach to the game in the same vein as it apparently has Novak Djokovic.
The Serb and his former coach Boris Becker have cited personal issues for his unexpected slump in form, which culminated in Murray ending his two-year reign atop the world rankings.
“Is there a chance of complacency? No, none,” Murray’s mum told Gulf News in an exclusive interview at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Friday. “He works too much and wants it too much. He’s too much of a fighter.”
She did not, however, want to discuss the prospect of her son being knighted in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List on New Year’s Day in the United Kingdom.
“I don’t want to comment on that,” she said, before adding that she also did not want to discuss whether she felt he would be too young for such an accolade as he himself has said.
Could he suffer the same fate as Djokovic, whose ex-mentor Becker suggested had spent less time training given his desire to be with his wife and young son?
“No, I think Andy is likely to go the other way,” she said, ahead of Murray’s Mubadala semi-final with David Goffin on Friday evening. “I think the success he’s had, a lot of that has been inspired by having a baby. I think it’s made him work harder because I think he realises it’s more of a sacrifice being away from friends and family now that he has a baby. I think it will drive him to work harder.
“But everybody’s different.”
Murray is unsure, however, how Andy will cope with being the hunted rather than hunter in his new-found status.
“He’s in a new situation. But he’s been in lots of new situations all through his career. You have to go through everything; you have to learn from your mistakes, your defeats, your disappointments, as well as your successes.
“But it is a new thing for him; he’s not been at the top. But I don’t suppose it’s much different from being number two or number three. You’re still going to be one of the main seeds.
“You’re going to be one of the ones who has more to lose and less to gain and everybody’s going to come in and have a pot shot at you. But I don’t think that’s any different to how it’s been the last couple of years.”
She believes the “huge strength in depth in the men’s game” will present perennial challenges for her son and added that “there’s no reason why Djokovic can’t come back and play his best again”.
Of emerging players who could test him in the year to come, she picked out Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and the 19-year-old German Alexander Zverev as the most likely candidates.
