Serena Williams: Women love Andy Murray

Terenigma

G.O.A.T.
Female tennis players "love Andy Murray" as he has "spoken up for women's issues", says seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.

A journalist in a news conference said Sam Querrey was the first US player to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since 2009 after beating Murray on Wednesday.

The Briton corrected him by replying "male player", as Williams alone has won 12 Grand Slams in that period.

"That is who he is and what we love about him," said American Williams, 35.
The world number four set an open-era record of 23 career Grand Slam titles when she defeated sister Venus in the final of the Australian Open in January.

Williams announced in April she will miss the remainder of the season as she will give birth in the autumn.

She told ESPN show The Six: "I do not think there is a woman player who is not totally supportive of Andy Murray.

"He has spoken up for women's issues and women's rights, especially in tennis, forever. He has done it again.

"He has such a wonderful mother, who has been such a strong figure in his life and he has done so much for us on our tour. We love Andy Murray."

The world number one's mother Judy told BBC Sport: "Andy is a great advocate for women's tennis. Having had female coaches for most of his formative years has helped as well. But he does his bit to help the girls.


Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/40606775
 

killerboi2

Hall of Fame
It's all PR. Andy doesn't give a damn about womens rights really. He once joked that him and his opponent were playing like women after a poor performance.
 

Djokovic2011

Bionic Poster
I like Andy but I do feel he was being overly sensitive in his response to the journalist. I mean imagine if someone told Serena in a press conference that Muguruza was the first Spanish player to reach a GS final in X amount of years, do we honestly believe her first response would be "first female Spanish player"? I highly doubt it.
 
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tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
"He has such a wonderful mother, who has been such a strong figure in his life and he has done so much for us on our tour. We love Andy Murray."
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NatF

Bionic Poster
I find this whole thing a non-issue. The journalist was clearly talking about the men's game, it's all well and good to bring up the women's game but why stop there? What about doubles? The Bryan Bros and Jack Sock etc...have won majors in the last 8 years. Bit silly IMO.
 

reaper

Legend
I like Andy but I do feel he was being overly sensitive in his response to the journalist. I mean imagine if someone told Serena in a press conference that Muguruza was the first Spanish player to reach a GS final in seventeen years, do we honestly believe her first response would be "first female Spanish player"? I highly doubt it.

Exactly!
 

JMR

Hall of Fame
I like Andy but I do feel he was being overly sensitive in his response to the journalist.

He wasn't being sensitive; he was being precise. If this is the way Murray thinks about the issue, there's nothing wrong with his noting that. He can answer a question to him any way he pleases, including clarifying the premise. "Overly sensitive" would have been if he had added something critical of the journalist, or suggested that he was offended, etc. He didn't do anything like that.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
He wasn't being sensitive; he was being precise. If this is the way Murray thinks about the issue, there's nothing wrong with his noting that. He can answer a question to him any way he pleases, including clarifying the premise. "Overly sensitive" would have been if he had added something critical of the journalist, or suggested that he was offended, etc. He didn't do anything like that.

In the same vein he once corrected a reporter who said he was the first player to win 2 gold medals at the Olympics. Andy replied that Serena and Venus had each already won 2 before him (although all but 1 of those were in doubles of course). Modest Andy! :)
 

Deanjam

Professional
He once joked that him and his opponent were playing like women after a poor performance.

True, although that was a long time ago and he's probably matured his ideas since.

I do think the praise for him has been somewhat over the top. But this happens when famous people do something basically nice. Oh that player said please to the ball kids, what a hero! Oh that player stopped to sign an autograph, what a star! Oh that player stroked a puppy and didn't kick it in the face, what a hero!
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Is she insulting Federer, the guy who speaks up for nothing except to praise bad court conditions in order to put down his fellow players? Or does some "charity" work which can never be faulted?
 

*Sparkle*

Professional
That clock obviously needed new batteries! ;)

At risk of throwing my shaky statistical credentials around, there is a world of difference between peak forehand speed and average speed. If your playing style consists of ball-bashing, then there isn't much variation between your average and peak speed. If you regularly deploy drop-shots, lobs and tactically adjust the pace of the ball to keep your opponent on their toes, then there will much greater variation between average and peak speed.

Being able to hit a tennis ball hard is fairly impressive, but not if it's all you can do.
 

SLD76

G.O.A.T.
Andy: Male Player
Serena: That's why we love him.

McEnroe: She's the greatest Women's Player of All Time
Serena: Please take my name out of your mouth I'm pregnant.


Really dude?

So you just gonna leave out the part of the convo that started the controversy? Not that Mac was wrong , but come on
 

mavsman149

Hall of Fame
I don't understand why the male and female tours in tennis are tied so closely together unlike in other sports. When some NCAA basketball team goes on a huge run of wins and gets the record, they aren't going to say oh no UConn women's team still hasn't lost in 12 years or whatever their current run is at because guess what they are different leagues!!! The ATP and WTA are different leagues
 

TennisATP

Professional
I don't understand why the male and female tours in tennis are tied so closely together unlike in other sports. When some NCAA basketball team goes on a huge run of wins and gets the record, they aren't going to say oh no UConn women's team still hasn't lost in 12 years or whatever their current run is at because guess what they are different leagues!!! The ATP and WTA are different leagues

Then how do you explain things like mixed doubles or when certain tournaments feature both men and women at the same time and the same order of play and under the same ticket/stadium? They are linked.
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
Andy Murray was actually far worse than John McEnroe on their assessments on how the top woman would fare in the ATP.

There was an old interview involving Tim Henman, JMac and Murray, where Mac commented that the top woman would rank about No. 500-600 on the men's tour.

Murray thought Mac was being too generous. No. 1000 was more like it, he said.
 
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mavsman149

Hall of Fame
Then how do you explain things like mixed doubles or when certain tournaments feature both men and women at the same time and the same order of play and under the same ticket/stadium? They are linked.

They are linked because it's more cost effective to host one week of tennis as opposed to dedicating two separate weeks to host both the WTA and ATP. Mixed doubles is only played at the slams, the Olympics and the Hopman Cup to my knowledge.

Look, if someone says Diana Taurasi is the all time leading scorer, I'm going to agree with them. I'm not going to yell, "No!!! It's Wilt Chamberlain!!!"
 

Deanjam

Professional
Nothing about that is "modest". He's just being a smartass.



Being a ***** is not "mature". What's immature about a male tennis player saying that they were playing like women? You know women are inferior to men right, especially in sports.

Do you honestly think that everyone that doesn't share your bitchmade ways is "immature"?`Lmao.

tenor.gif
 

icedevil0289

G.O.A.T.
judy raised murray well. also ofc people miss the casual sexism of the journalist's question. you don't need to outright say women belong in the kitchen do make sexist comments, people can say things whether they intend to or not. i can guarantee you when talking about a woman's achievements, including serenas, you will often see female before it. bottom line is the default in sport is often male unless otherwise specified and that is what andy was pointing out. he seems like a stand up guy off court. why oh why is he chore to watch on though. sighh
 
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ojo rojo

Legend
Nothing about that is "modest". He's just being a smartass.

Nice username.

Wow. Just looked at you first few posts. Vile. Are you OK?



Being a ***** is not "mature". What's immature about a male tennis player saying that they were playing like women? You know women are inferior to men right, especially in sports.

Do you honestly think that everyone that doesn't share your bitchmade ways is "immature"?`Lmao.
 

TheMaestro1990

Hall of Fame
I like Andy but I do feel he was being overly sensitive in his response to the journalist. I mean imagine if someone told Serena in a press conference that Muguruza was the first Spanish player to reach a GS final in X amount of years, do we honestly believe her first response would be "first female Spanish player"? I highly doubt it.

Exactly this!
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
I like Andy but I do feel he was being overly sensitive in his response to the journalist. I mean imagine if someone told Serena in a press conference that Muguruza was the first Spanish player to reach a GS final in X amount of years, do we honestly believe her first response would be "first female Spanish player"? I highly doubt it.

I highly doubt it too given that at least 2 other female Spanish players have reached the final of Wimbledon alone and 1 of them actually won it! Plus I'm sure Serena would have been at least tempted to mention Nadal but, who knows?;)
 
C

Chadillac

Guest
Andy: Male Player
Serena: That's why we love him.

McEnroe: She's the greatest Women's Player of All Time
Serena: Please take my name out of your mouth I'm pregnant.

Tells john she would like privacy during her pregnancy, poses nude on the cover of vanity fair the next day.

Some people you cannot take seriously, especially when they change their opinion when it suits the situation
 

Aussie Darcy

Bionic Poster
I like Andy but I do feel he was being overly sensitive in his response to the journalist. I mean imagine if someone told Serena in a press conference that Muguruza was the first Spanish player to reach a GS final in X amount of years, do we honestly believe her first response would be "first female Spanish player"? I highly doubt it.
The thing is, I can't even imagine a reporter saying that though. And if they were actually dumb enough to say it then I would expect a clarification, especially considering Muguruza made a slam final just last year.
 
He wasn't being sensitive; he was being precise. If this is the way Murray thinks about the issue, there's nothing wrong with his noting that. He can answer a question to him any way he pleases, including clarifying the premise. "Overly sensitive" would have been if he had added something critical of the journalist, or suggested that he was offended, etc. He didn't do anything like that.

Except he wasn't being precise. As has already been mentioned, in addition to American women, there have been other American men (Bryan Brothers, Sock) who've won Slams in doubles during that period (including Wimbledon) yet Andy strangely felt no need to mention that or correct the reporter there.

It's obvious he just does this stuff for the PR. He couldn't care less about being precise.
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
Murray and McEnroe are about the same in their attitudes toward female tennis pros.

* Both love to praise Serena and all her achievements.
* Both love to point out the need to make distinctions in achievements on the pro tours along the gender line.
* Both agree that the top female player would be ranked outside Top 500 if they were to play on the men's tour. In fact, Murray thinks that the top female pro would be ranked No 1000 on the men's tour.

Yet Mac is treated like a big male chauvinist while Murray is heralded as a champion of women's causes.
 
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