MY ACCOUNT
Andy Murray’s respect within both the women’s and men’s professional game could make him an ideal future tennis commissioner, believes Pam Shriver, as Wimbledon gets underway.
The three-time grand slam winner has battled back through injury to reach his best form in arguably half-a-decade and will take to SW19 once more this week.
Murray is nevertheless approaching the final stages of his career, and Shriver – a veteran in women’s doubles – thinks that he could turn to the administrative side of the sport once done.
The 35-year-old has often been a strong advocate for equality within the sport, earning the respect of several leading players and figures across the game.
“He could be a future commissioner of tennis,” Shriver told Stats Perform. “He has that kind of respect, I think. If he wanted to be a leader when he’s finished, he could be a very influential [one].
“I think Andy Murray will be known for his upstanding core values of equality. I know he’s well respected in every female locker room on the planet.
“I think the influence of his mom being his coach and such an influential figure in his life [has shaped him]. He’s just very popular, I think, in both [the] men’s and women’s locker rooms.”
Murray returns to Wimbledon as he looks to maintain the strong form he showed earlier in June at the Stuttgart Open, facing Australian James Duckworth in the first round on Monday.
At the time of his first triumph on Centre Court in 2013, the Briton was considered part of a ‘Big Four’ in men’s tennis, only for his subsequent struggles with injury to see him slip away from his rivals.
But Shriver believes he has achieved what he set out to do and can be proud of a still exemplary career, adding: [He] wanted to end the 77-year drought at Wimbledon [and he did].
“I’d say along with [Stan] Wawrinka, [he’s one of] the two guys that managed to break through more than once during the era of the big three.”
