“Seven-time Grand Slam champion, doubles tennis legend, former world No. 1, won more than 30 tournament titles, reached more than 60 finals and won the Davis Cup.” As soon as it was presented Jamie Murraythe Scottish professional tennis player who, in 2016, became the first Briton to reach the top of a ranking world tennis championship.
Son of tennis player Judy Murray, Jamie explained that his mother played an important role during his childhood in promoting a taste for tennis. tennis: “I was very lucky to have a mother who was an incredible coach, who taught me and my brother [o vencedor de três Grand Slams, Andy Murray] very good skills from a very early age. It gave us a very good foundation to become professional players”, he said on the first day of the Web Summit, on November 11. “And I was also very lucky to have one of the best doubles coaches in the world, Louis Kaye, who helped me develop my game and understand what it takes to be a top tennis player.”
Jamie previously played with his brother, Andy, in Davis Cup – the annual tennis national team tournament – and revealed that it was a unique experience. “It’s unique to be able to play with my brother at such a high level, and when we won the Davis Cup he was number 1 or 2 in the world at that time”, he reported. “We played in Scotland, which doesn’t have professional tennis events, and the support we got was crazy. And I knew how much my brother wanted to win: exactly as much as me, maybe even more.”
“They were crazy games in Scotland, it was a lot of fun. And when I look back on my career, they are the most memorable games because of the emotions they evoke in me.”
Andy Murray (left) and Jamie Murray (right) at the Wimbledon Tournament
Francos Neigh
The peer games expert explained that chemistry between teammates team is very important, so having a good relationship with your partner is a great help when overcoming difficulties in the field, “which will inevitably appear”.
“We spend so much time with that person, you know? We wake up at the same time, we have breakfast, we get in the car together, we have lunch, we train, and we haven’t even gotten to the most important part of the day, which is competing in the most stressful environment ever.”
It is due to this challenging environment that Jamie considered that tennis players are generally disciplined people and used to working under pressure or short deadlines. “Many tennis players are also quite adaptable people, because nothing is certain in our lives, even things as basic as knowing what time we’re going to play. There’s a lot up in the air, so I think players They are very adaptable and very resilient people.”
“I played over a thousand games, which is a lot of games, and I lost a lot of them. So you get used to it and learn to deal with losses, and that’s something tennis teaches you.”
According to Jamie, only one person can lose every week, so at a certain point in the tournamentsomeone will experience disappointment. It is with learning, he explains, that one overcomes this feeling and prepares for the next week, “because that is the beauty of tennis, is that there is always another event to attend the following week”.
The 39-year-old athlete remembers the beginning of his careerwhen he was still 18 years old, remembering how he didn’t care about his body. “Recovering is so important nowadays”, he says. “Players want to play for as long as possible, they want longevity and these days we have a lot more information available and a lot more equipment at tournaments to help us with that. Because if you can squeeze another year, two or three years into your career, that’s incredible, I think.”
Jamie is currently tournament director at ATP 500one of the most prestigious tournaments internationally in the ATP series, and he has had fun watching the event “from the other side”. “I’m used to wearing shorts and a t-shirt and out of nowhere this week I’m wearing a suit. It was strange being around my colleagues in suits, people see me differently, and I feel different”, he confesses. “But it’s been a lot of fun, you’ve learned a lot.”
“I think there will be more and more technologies based on artificial intelligence that will help us with data analysis, whether with the strengths and weaknesses of players, with patterns or with ways of playing”
The tennis player shared his testimony on one of the stages of the Web Summiton November 11th, and, as the technological subject could not escape, he spoke about the new possibilities that artificial intelligence (AI) opened up in sport.
Jamie Murray on the first day of the Web Summit, on November 11th
Paul Devlin
“I am sure that the IA you will be able to monitor how we feel, our heart rate, the quality of our sleep, all of this, to understand how our body feels and if there is any risk of injury. We currently use it to optimize training”, he points out.
“But I also think that tennis is a game based on feeling and heart, and although it is inevitable that AI gets involved, I hope it is to enhance that feeling and not take it away.”
“You have to work hard. Nobody gets to the top without trying hard, that’s for sure”
For younger people aspiring to a similar career, Jamie warned that the most important thing is not to get carried away by the results. “Because ultimately, until you start playing for the seniors, it doesn’t matter if you’re the number one of juniors or the number 10,000, doesn’t guarantee you anything. What matters is developing your game and your physicality as much as you can, because it’s a very physical game.”
“It’s a lot of fun going to the events, and it motivates you to keep working hard and trying to win enough matches to keep your rankingso that you can continue to go to these events”, he reveals. “For me it has never been difficult, because I love what I do.”
The player also reveals that you learn from the journey, and advises these young people to take advantage of it, “because it won’t always be incredible”. However, “when you get to where you want to be, it’s very rewarding.”
Text written by André Sousa and edited by Diogo Pombo