Judy Murray: ‘I’m still so nervous when I watch my boys play’
In the run-up to Wimbledon, Judy Murray, mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie, knows exactly how she’ll feel when she takes her place in the players’ box to watch her sons.
“I get terribly nervous,” she confesses. “I tend to not watch on TV and I don’t go so often now. If you go to a grand slam, you’ll be there a week before the tournament to prepare. And if they get to the end of a grand slam, you’re there for three weeks. It’s emotionally exhausting.
“I tell people it’s like severe nausea and a series of mini heart attacks going on at the same time. I’m honestly surprised I’m still alive after what they’ve put me through after all these years.”
These days Judy, 63, who lives in Perthshire, only watches matches Andy and Jamie are in. “I go in, watch the match and leave. I don’t hang around and meet friends.”
She admits she’s looking forward to the day she can go to Wimbledon and her boys are no longer competing, and is anticipating finding a newfound freedom.
“It’s been our life for such a long time, but it would be nice to have the peace and quiet and the calmness, and not the worry and anxiety over how well they are doing, whether they are injured, all of these things, just to have a bit more of a normal life.
“Having said that, it’s been the most incredible journey and privilege to be part of that top tier that I love, and to watch your kids doing great things,” Judy adds.
The Scottish coach is enjoying new challenges – including writing her debut novel The Wild Card, which she was encouraged by her former Strictly Come Dancing partner and fellow novelist Anton du Beke to write. It focuses on a woman who has the chance of a Wimbledon title at age 36, after a long break to bring up her child.
“All the experiences that I had and things I’ve seen, places I’ve been and people I’ve met, there was an opportunity to create a work of fiction to share some of that,” Judy explains.
Getting a chance later in life is also something she can relate to.
“I’ve realised it’s never too late to change course, to try new things – life is so much about second chances and it’s about being brave enough to take those steps, having people who open doors for you and create the opportunities for you.”
She can also relate second chances to her son Andy’s career – he was on the verge of retirement in 2019 due to a hip injury, only to make an emotional return to grand slam action following surgery. But her stress levels were higher when he was at the top, she remembers.
“When he had to stop because of a hip injury and have surgery, he was number one in the world, playing the best tennis of his career. When the hip started to bother him and you saw him walking with quite a limp, that was really difficult because you knew he was in a lot of pain but desperately wanting to carry on.
“Now, it’s another one of those second chance things. How many people with a metal hip are playing at the top end of a sport? Life is about second chances.”
Can he win Wimbledon this year?
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Judy says.
She has no intentions on giving up coaching – and is planning to open a tennis centre in Scotland in 2025 – but says the pandemic made her reassess what she wanted to do with her life.
“Covid gave a lot of us a glimpse of what it’s like to slow down or retire and I thought I’d hate it, but for the first three months, I absolutely loved it. I didn’t have to pack a case or go to the airport.
“I discovered my bike through Covid, which only used to get a rare outing, but during Covid I went out on it a lot.”
She’s also taken up golf, which she says is less frenetic than tennis.
“One of the things I love about golf is that you can go out and practice and play on your own, you don’t need somebody to play with. I go to a little nine-hole golf course that has a driving range and practice facilities,” she shares.
“I love that peace and quiet, beautiful countryside, and I can go out with my clubs and potter around on my own and work it out for myself. I’m not very good, but I’m determined to get good enough to be able to go around the golf course with my sons, without them abusing me the whole way around.
“They play golf and when they retire, it’s something we can all do. So I’ve got to get good enough to be able to play with them!”
She’s also taken up pickleball, a new craze which has taken off in the US.
“It’s a mix of table tennis, badminton and tennis, played on a badminton court, where you use a giant table tennis bat and a plastic ball, and because it’s played on a smaller court it’s ideal for someone like me. I find the tennis court really big now. It’s a great way out of tennis.”
She’s already trained to become a pickleball coach and a cardio tennis instructor, combining tennis with fitness classes.
She also loves spending time with her wider family. “I have five grandchildren and a great set of friends, so I’ll be able to fill my time very nicely. I’m not one for sitting still.”
And Murray is only a short flight away from her sons and grandchildren, she adds.
“I think pretty much all grandparents say, ‘It’s great to be able to go down and wind them up and then hand them back’.”
Does she worry about ageing?
“I didn’t think that I would. The age thing had never worried me, and when I hit 60, I thought: when I was young, 60 was always the age that women retired – and suddenly I was 60. I was thinking, oh my goodness!
“But I’m very fortunate because I’ve always been active and kept myself in good shape, I’ve got a big circle of friends and because I work a lot with young people, that keeps me young,” says Judy. “And I have my grandchildren, so I’ve increased my stretching routines to ensure I remain supple enough to chase after them.”
