Queen’s Club give a bow to tennis great Murray

Image: Centre Court at Queen's Club, Benjamin Liebald, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has renamed the centre court at Queen’s Club (London, UK) to The Andy Murray Arena in tribute to Andy Murray who retired from professional tennis on August 1^st.

‘ESPN’ stated that Murray’s illustrious career finally came to an end as he and his doubles partner Dan Evans (British tennis player) were beaten 6-2 6-4 by the American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the Olympics quarterfinals at the Roland Garros on August 1^st.

London (UK)-based the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has been the governing body of tennis in Britain since 1888 and its vision is to open tennis up to all different types of people. The organization believes tennis can provide “physical, social and mental rewards both on and off the court”.

The Queen’s Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England (UK). The club hosts the annual Queen’s Club Championships men’s grass court lawn tennis tournament. It has 28 outdoor courts and 10 indoor.

Andy Murray is a British professional tennis player from Scotland (UK). Murray has three Grand Slam titles to his name – two at Wimbledon (2013, 2016) and one at the US Open (2012).

The Roland Garros Stadium is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris (France) that hosts the French Open. The tournament, also known as Roland Garros, is a Grand Slam tennis championship played annually in late May and early June.

The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and branded as Paris 2024, is an international multisport event which got off to a start on July 24^th and will conclude on August 11^th, 2024. The Opening Ceremony took place on July 26^th. Paris (France) is the Host City with events held in 16 additional Cities spread across Metropolitan France and one subsite in Tahiti, French Polynesia.

‘ESPN’ further stated that the 37-year-old Scot regarded as one of Britain’s greatest sportsmen after twice winning the Wimbledon and reaching the World No. 1 spot announced before the Games that he would retire once it was over.

After withdrawing from the singles as he recovered from surgery to remove a cyst in his spine, he and Evans won two rounds of the doubles saving multiple match points in each, raising hopes of golden final chapter to his career and a fourth Olympic medal after winning the singles in 2012 and 2016 and also claiming a mixed doubles silver medal in 2012.

Queens, a warm-up tournament for Wimbledon, where Murray was a five-time champion, announced the Andy Murray Arena soon after his defeat in Paris.

Stated Scott Lloyd, LTA Chief Executive, in a statement, “Andy is the greatest tennis player ever to come from this country (UK) and a giant of British sport. His contribution to the game is immense and has bought us all so many moments of pride. He was relentless in his pursuit of excellence and had a single-minded determination to succeed. His brilliance on court bought to an end the long wait for a British male singles winner at Wimbledon, brought home Olympic gold and silver medals and he was the driving force behind Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup (the premier international team event in men’s tennis) success.”

Lloyd’s statement further read, “Anyone who ever saw him play knows he put his heart and soul into his performances on the court. His incredible work ethic and love for the sport was demonstrated by his repeated returns from injury when many others would not have had the resolve. Perhaps equal to his on-court success was his attitude in championing equality and diversity right across the sport. He is a special role model for tennis in the United Kingdom and beyond and a unique champion. We are proud to name the arena at our tournament at the Queen’s Club after him.”

Murray, in typically self-effacing fashion, posted on social media soon after he had left the court, “Never even liked tennis anyway”, before changing his bio from “I play tennis” to “I played tennis.”

Meanwhile, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (tennis giant), who Murray met 36 times in a career-long rivalry, led the tributes.

Said Djokovic before newsmen, “I have only praise for him, an incredible competitor and one of the greatest warriors the game has ever seen. His fighting spirits will inspire people for generations to come.”

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Keir Starmer labeled Murray “a British great”, and said, “1 Davis Cup, 2 Olympic golds and 3 Grand Slams. But more than that thanks for two decades of phenomenal entertainment and sportsmanship.”

Over the past two decades, Murray has been the figurehead of British tennis and for several years was part of the game’s Big Four with Roger Federer (Swiss former tennis player), Rafa Nadal (Spanish tennis player) and Djokovic.

His first breakthrough came when beating Federer to win the Olympic title in 2012 weeks after losing to the Swiss in the Wimbledon final. Later that year, he won the US Open.

In 2013, he ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles champion by beating Djokovic – a match that was watched by 17.3 million viewers on British TV.

Three years later, he won a second Wimbledon crown and ended the year ranked World Number One. He also led Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015 and is the only player, man or woman, to win Olympics singles titles at consecutive Games.

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