“Really important for women’s tennis to have a male ally in someone like Andy Murray”

Andy Murray’s mother, Jodi, believes that women’s tennis is fortunate to have an ally in her son, who has taken it upon himself to bring attention to the sport and the women who represent it.

Speaking in a recent interview with Eurosport, three-time Grand Slam champion Judy Murray is hailed as a champion in women’s tennis, noting that it’s important to have someone at the top of the game on the men’s team who highlights their problems.

“I think it’s really important for (women’s) tennis to have a male ally in someone like Andy, who’s been at the top of the game, winning the biggest awards in tennis, and speaking up for women,” said Judy Murray.

The British tennis coach added that her son was a student in the women’s game, saying that he could answer any question about the best players because he watches a lot of women’s tennis on TV.

“He’s a great student of the game in general, but he’s also a student of the women’s side of the game. So if you ask him a question about any of the best players, he’ll give you a rundown of what they’ve won, what they haven’t won, how they play, to etc. Because he watches a lot of women’s tennis on TV.

“Andy Murray constantly talks about women’s tennis, he doesn’t do it once and shut it down” – Judy Murray

Judy Murray went on to salute Andy Murray for constantly talking about women’s tennis, not just doing it once and being done with it. His mother believes that the reason it all started for the Briton was his association with Amelie Mauresmo.

“He’s constantly talking about (women’s tennis), he doesn’t do it once and stop playing. He’s done it for a number of years now and I think a lot of it probably started since he started working with Amelie,” said Judy Murray.

The WTA world number one, Mauresmo, coached Murray for two years between 2014 and 2016 – one of very few women to coach top-level ATP players.

And noting that Andy Murray made the decision to appoint Mauresmo as his coach simply because of her skill set and listening skills, which Judy felt was a “feminine skill”, the Brit asserted that her son’s actions made a huge difference in the sport.

“He was in the top four in the game and it was a big thing for a lot of people to take on a women’s coach, but for him it wasn’t about the gender, it was all about the personal fitness, her skills, her trajectory,” Judy Murray said.

She added, “She was a great listener, which is a very feminine skill in my opinion. He does it constantly and I’m so glad he does because it makes such a difference to people listening.”