Anyone for tennis?

Ah, the tennis season has started again with the first major of the year.  At one time, the prospect of the Australian Open would leave me cold. 

Tennis was a game which held no interest for me, with its strange terminology, illogical scoring and whiff of elitism.  The last thing that you would see me doing was getting excited about an upcoming match.

But then along came Andy Murray.  For reasons not obvious to me, my interest was suddenly peaked. I started to follow his progress and watch his matches when they appeared on the television. 

The more I watched, the more I began to understand the game, its subtleties and its nuances.  I began to appreciate the supreme fitness of the players and the enormous skill involved when the game is played at the highest level.

No longer was it two guys whacking a ball at each other.  Now it became a game of chess, with each player trying to draw his opponent into making an error or leaving themselves open.  It became a game of strength-sapping hundred miles an hour smashes and the most delicate of drop shots which fall dead just over the net.  It became a game of confidence where mental strength and agility were just as important as the physical.

My thanks go out to Andy Murray. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea but he has switched me onto the game.  I revel in his wins and suffer in his defeats.  I’m hooked by the passion which bursts out of him when he knows that he could play better and I admire his stoicism off the court.

So now I’m watching the highlights of day one of the Australian Open on Eurosport, looking forward to his first match and hoping that this will be the year in which Murray goes from being a great player to the truly great player that he is capable of being.  I hope so.

Like me you can follow Andy Murray on Twitter @andy_murray