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Andy Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player and current British number 1. He is ranked World No. 4, having previously held the No. 2 ranking position for two weeks from 17 August 2009 to 31 August 2009, making him the highest-ranked British male player since Fred Perry. Murray achieved a top 10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has reached two Grand Slam finals, finishing runner-up to Roger Federer both times at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open.
Murray is most proficient on a fast surface (such as hard courts), although he has worked hard since 2008 on improving his clay court game. Murray works with a team of fitness experts, along with Miles Maclagan, his main coach.
Murray attended Dunblane Primary School, and was present during the 1996 Dunblane massacre. Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people, mostly children who were in a younger age group than Murray, before turning one of his four guns on himself. Murray took cover in a classroom. Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but in his autobiography Hitting Back he says that he attended a youth group run by Hamilton, and that his mother gave him rides in her car.
Murray later attended Dunblane High School. Following the separation of his parents when he was aged nine, Murray and his brother Jamie lived with their father.
Murray and Laura Robson represented Great Britain at the Hopman Cup. The pair progressed to the final where they were beaten by Spain.
Murray was seeded fifth in the Australian Open following Murray’s decision not to play Doha, losing the ranking to Juan Martin del Potro. He progressed through his opening few matches in straight sets against to set up a quarterfinal clash with the world #2 Rafael Nadal. Murray lead 6-3, 7-6(2), 3-0 before the Spaniard had to retire with a torn quadricep. He became the first British man to reach more than one Grand Slam final in 72 years, after recovering from a set down to beat Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the semi-finals. In the final he lost to world #1 Roger Federer in straight sets.
After pulling out of the Open 13 event in Marseille, Murray returned to action in Dubai. He was defeated in the second round, by Janko Tipsarević of Serbia 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray defeated Nicolás Almagro , after he retired at the end of the 1st set to advance to the quarter-finals. However he was defeated by Robin Söderling, losing 1-6, 6-7, despite saving three match points and coming 2 points away from forcing a decider. Murray next played at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, but had an early exit in a match with Mardy Fish, 6-4, 6-4 in his opening round (after receiving a bye in the first round). He said following the defeat that his mind hadn’t been fully on Tennis. He consequently lost his number three ranking to Nadal.
Switching attention to clay, Murray requested a wildcard for Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to prevent him losing his No.4 ranking to del Potro. He suffered another early exit, this time to Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1 in the 2nd Round. He also entered the doubles competition with Ross Hutchins and defeated World No.10 doubles team Cermak and Meritmak, before losing to the Bryan Brothers on a champions tie breaker. He then went on to reach the 3rd round in the Rome Masters 1000 where he lost to David Ferrer in straight sets, after beating Seppi and ending a 3 match losing streak. At the Madrid Masters he reached the quarter finals beating Juan Ignacio Chela and Victor Hanescu along the way. He subsequently lost to Ferrer again in a closely fought battle with the final score 7-5 6-3. At the second slam of the year, the French Open, Murray was drawn in the 1st round against Richard Gasquet. Murray battled back from 2 sets down to win in the final set. Due to bad weather, it then took 4 sets and 2 days to see off Chela. Playing for the 3rd day running, Murray lost a set 6-0 against Marcos Baghdatis, something he had not done since the French Open quarter finals the previous year. Murray lost in straight sets to Tomas Berdych in the 4th round, and credited his opponent for outplaying him.
Murray’s next appearance was at the grass courts of London where he was defending champion. He lost in the third round to eventual finalist Mardy Fish for the second time that year. The final score was 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(2). Due to his early loss at Queen’s Murray decided to play an exhibition match against Mikhail Youzhny, winning 6-3, 6-4. In Murray’s first round match at Wimbledon he faced Jan Hajek and won 7-5 6-1 6-2. A victory over Jarkko Nieminen followed; 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, a match viewed by The Queen. He faces Gilles Simon for a place in the fourth round.
