Exclusive: Andy Murray praised by mum Judy for ‘consistently’ speaking up for women’s tennis

Judy Murray is proud of her son Andy Murray for continuing to be an ally for women’s tennis and believes “it makes a big difference to people listening”.

Speaking to Eurosport at the WTA’s 50th anniversary celebrations at London’s Millennium Gloucester Hotel on Friday, Judy discussed how Andy has become a consistent voice supporting female tennis players.

“I think it’s really important for tennis to have a male ally in someone like Andy, who has been at the top of the game, won the biggest prizes in tennis, and speaking on behalf of women,” said Judy, who is a WTA ambassador, an experienced coach and a former Billie Jean King Cup captain for Great Britain.

“He is a huge 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 top female players, he’ll give you a rundown on what they’ve won, what they’ve not won, how they play, etcetera etcetera. Because he watches a lot of women’s tennis on TV.”

Andy Murray has spoken out on various issues faced by women athletes, including sexism, the gender pay gap and other examples of inequality. When he hired French former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo to be his coach back in 2014, he was appalled by the excessive scrutiny she faced each time he lost, which he felt was way more than any of his previous male coaches had ever experienced.

“Have I become a feminist? Well, if being a feminist is about fighting so that a woman is treated like a man then yes, I suppose I have,” he wrote in a column he penned for L’Equipe in 2015.

Andy making a difference

“He speaks out consistently about it, he doesn’t just do it once and switch off,” said Judy of her son.

“He has done it for a number of years now and I think a lot of it probably kicked off from when he started to work with Amelie .

“He was in the top four of the game and it was a big thing to many people for him to take on a female coach but for him it was nothing to do with gender, it was all about personality fit, her skillset, her track record, and the fact that she listened. She was a great listener, which is a very female skill in my opinion.

“He does it consistently and I’m very glad that he does that because it makes a big difference to people listening.”

Judy considers herself a “massive advocate for women’s tennis and for women in tennis” and has put in huge efforts into getting young girls into the sport through various programmes.

The iconic Billie Jean King, founder of the WTA and renowned advocate for equality, said on Friday that Judy deserves “a statue” for all the work she has done in Scotland and across the United Kingdom.

“Judy, I want to thank for everything because you’ve been amazing. You make it fun. I’ve been to your session with the children and you make it fun, it’s about play. I read your first book, ‘Knowing the Score’, that was fantastic, and you’ll see ‘play’ is in that book with the boys,” said King.

“I mean how many mothers have the No.1 singles and doubles players in the same year, 2016? Judy had two sons, both No.1, in singles and doubles in the same year 2016, I think that is just amazing.”

‘Gauff and Osaka have been brilliant’

Judy says King is the one who encouraged her to use her voice and she was thrilled to attend Friday’s event and celebrate 50 years of the WTA.

Asked what she hopes to see develop over the next chapter of the women’s tennis circuit, Judy said: “I think in the years that I’ve been involved, I understand how important it is to have male allies and females who are prepared to speak up and stand up and show up for things that they believe in.

“And I think we as women are probably in the best position that we have been for some time to speak up.

“I remember Billie Jean King saying to me many years ago, ‘If you don’t make a noise, nobody will hear you’. And she was the one who encouraged me to use my voice and use my profile as a female coach and mother of two Grand Slam champions, to speak out for things that I believed in, or against things that weren’t right.

“And I think the most powerful voices are people who are recognisable within their sport. And I would love to see more of the new generation of female players step up in the way that Serena did and Venus did, and use their platforms to affect change, whatever it is that they believe in.

“I think we see it very nicely with Coco Gauff, with Naomi Osaka; I think they’ve been absolutely brilliant, because the younger generation identify with them and they will listen to them, they speak the same language, they live in the same world. I think it is about standing out for what you believe in and not being afraid to speak up and rock the boat.”

‘Most wonderful example of gender equality in sport’

Just days before the 50th anniversary event, the WTA announced a pathway to equal prize money at all combined WTA 1000 events by the year 2027 and non-combined ones by 2033.

“I love the whole thing of the mixed events. We’ve seen it for many years with the Slams, where everybody is as interested in the women’s side of the game as they are in the men’s side of the game, and it works,” said Judy.

“They’re the most popular events, they’re the biggest. And when the other combined events started to be introduced, they very quickly became popular with tennis fans because the tennis fans split is relatively 50-50 in terms of men and women who watch the game.

“So it’s not every venue that has got the capacity to host men and women at the same place, so of course there has to be a lot of events on the tour that are just for men and just for women.

“And in those events I completely understand market forces are at play there and it isn’t always possible for those events to have equal prize money if they don’t get the sponsorship in or the bums on seats, whatever it is. But where men and women are playing in the same place, and there is equal prize money, that is just the most wonderful example for me of gender equality in sport.”