Judith Mary Murray,
OBE (née Erskine; born 8 September 1959) is a Scottish tennis coach. She is the mother of professional tennis players
Jamie
Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right.
People Female
* Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress
* Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and t ...
and Sir
Andy Murray.
Life and career
Murray was born on 8 September 1959 in
Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the ...
,
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.
It borders Perth ...
, the daughter of Eileen Shirley (''née'' Edney) and
Roy Erskine
Roy Erskine (born September 1931) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a full back. Erskine made a total of 46 appearances in the Scottish Football League.
Career
After completing his spell of national service, Erskine b ...
, an optician and former footballer who had played for
Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...
in the 1950s. She says that growing up, there were no indoor tennis courts in Scotland, so she played tennis in the summer and
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...
in the winter. She won 64 titles in Scotland during her junior and senior career, and decided to have a go at the professional tour in around 1976.
Murray gave up the idea of competing professionally as she was homesick and was robbed in Barcelona.
However, she had played against players such as
Debbie Jevans
Deborah Jevans CBE (born 20 May 1960) is a British former tennis player and current sports executive. Jevans is a former junior Wimbledon champion and played in ten Grand Slam singles draws between 1979 and 1983, with her best result being the fo ...
and
Mariana Simionescu
Mariana Simionescu (born 27 November 1956) is a retired tennis player from Romania.
Career
Simionescu won the French Junior Championships in 1974. She played on the WTA Tour from 1973 to 1980. Her best Grand Slam performance was reaching the ...
.
Murray claims that her playing style did not have any big shots but she was quick around the court and read the game well.
She decided to go to the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
to study French and German, before dropping German in favour of business studies. In 1981, she graduated from the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, and represented Great Britain at the
World Student Games.
She began coaching and was the initial coach for both her sons before handing over the reins as their professional careers bloomed.
[Donald McRae]
Judy Murray: I would love to have given it a go as a player
The Guardian, 16 June 2014 In the early 1980s, Murray lived in the West End of Glasgow and was a member of Broomhill Lawn Tennis and Squash club, winning the Club Championships three times and playing for its teams (under her maiden name). She remains a visitor to the club.
Aside from her own sons, she has coached many players at regional and national level under the auspices of the British tennis governing body, the
Lawn Tennis Association
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Founded in 1888, the LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. It believes that tennis can provide "physica ...
(LTA). In December 2011 she was elected to lead the
British Fed Cup team as their captain. She says she took the job in part to raise the profile of female coaches and alleviate some of the
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...
that she says remains in the sport. She resigned as
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
's
Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
Captain in March 2016.
Murray was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2017 Birthday Honours for services to tennis, women in sport, and charity.
She is a trustee of the Judy Murray Foundation, a
registered charity under Scottish law, with the object of improving access to tennis opportunities across Scotland.
In 2018, Murray appeared as a contestant on ''
The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special''.
In 2020, Murray appeared as a contestant on ''
Celebrity Masterchef
''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2 ...
''. Murray was given the 2021
Georgina Clark Mother Award from the
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
.
Honorary Doctorates
Murray was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
by the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
on 8 October 2013. On 22 November 2013 Murray received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Stirling
The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...
. She received three honorary degrees in 2016 – one from the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
, another from the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, and a third from
Abertay University
, mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom."
, established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology
, type = Public
, chancellor = Alice Brown
, principal = Liz Bacon
, head_label = Chair of C ...
for her "outstanding contribution to British sport."
Park of Keir
Murray had been planning to build indoor and outdoor tennis courts; a six-hole golf course; a 4/5-star hotel; a country park; indoor leisure activities; a tennis museum and 19 resort homes on of
green belt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...
land at Park of Keir south of
Dunblane
Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...
and the north-west of
Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the ...
. The proposed development was rejected by
Stirling Council
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, ...
in December 2015.
Strictly Come Dancing
On 7 September 2014 Murray was introduced as a competitor in the
12th series of
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's ''
Strictly Come Dancing'', paired with professional dancer
Anton du Beke
Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British ballroom and Latin dancer, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the BBC One celebrity dancing sh ...
. In week eight at
Blackpool, however, after dancing a
Viennese Waltz
Viennese waltz (german: Wiener Walzer) is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in b ...
to "
Let's Go Fly a Kite" from ''
Mary Poppins'', the pair had one of the lowest two scores. They were eliminated by a unanimous vote from the judges. Writing in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', Michael Hogan tagged his review of the show "Ballroom justice at last as the popular but wooden Mrs Murray leaves Strictly", describing the last dance: "It was Murray’s best yet – not saying much, maybe – scoring her first (and only) sevens. She was even more delighted by her four from
Craig Revel Horwood
Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
Horwood is best ...
."
3 Score from guest judge
Donny Osmond.
Personal life
Judy is currently unmarried. She has been married once before. In 1980 when she was 21 and known as Judy Erskine, she tied the knot with William Murray, a regional manager for the Scottish newsagent chain RS McColl. The two welcomed their first child, Jamie, in 1986 and became a family of four just over a year later when Andy was born. Judy and William Murray divorced in 2005.
In February 2021 Murray revealed that she had undergone a £4,500 non-surgical
face lift
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () "wrinkle", and () "excision", the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are mult ...
after her sons teased her for her "turkey neck".
Publications
*''Knowing the Score: My Family and Our Tennis Story''. London: Chatto & Windus, 2017. Co-written with
Alexandra Heminsley. .
References
External links
The Judy Murray Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Judy
1959 births
Living people
British female tennis players
Scottish female tennis players
Sportspeople from Dunblane
Scottish sports coaches
Scottish tennis coaches
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Officers of the Order of the British Empire