Olympic Men's Tennis 2012: 10 Things You Need to Know About Andy Murray

The best tennis player for Great Britain, Andy Murray, looks to contend for gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

There is however, much more than meets the eye when it comes to who Murray is as a person. For what he's been through and what he continues to fight, Murray is arguably one of tennis' more polarizing athletes as well.

He remains one of the top players in the world and is only 25 years old. Oddly enough, Murray's career has been a bit of a roller-coaster, because the competition he faces has yet to let him reach the top.

However, considering where Murray is right now and what he's potentially capable of, it's reasonable to suspect that he'll reach the pinnacle sooner than later. Let the journey begin.

He Survived a Massacre

Yes, Andy Murray is lucky to be alive right now.

Back in March of 1996 Thomas Hamilton went on a shooting spree that killed 16 children and one adult before taking his own life according to BBC News:

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William Wilson, chief constable of central Scotland, told a news conference his officers had been called to the school at 0938 GMT: "They found a scene of carnage, with 15 children dead, one teacher dead and one other dead."

Twelve other children were taken to hospital in Stirling, where one is reported to have later died of his injuries.

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Murray though, revealed in 2008 that he was able to hide per Ben Hale of the Daily Mail:

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He and his older brother Jamie, who was ten, were on their way to the gym. They hid under a desk in the headmaster's study.

In the book, Hitting Back, he says: 'Some of my friends' brothers and sisters were killed. I have only retained patch impressions of that day, such as being in a classroom singing songs.'

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Considering that Murray was able to remain strong and become a pro tennis player, that success is damn impressive after having to cope with this tragedy.

He Wrote an Autobiography

As you may have guessed from the second source on the previous slide, Andy Murray has a book.

However, there's plenty of sports books out there which are biographies but the less common autobiography is rather fascinating; which is what Murray has written.

Published in 2010 through Random House, "Hitting Back: The Autobiography" tells us:

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A young, brash Andy Murray came out of nowhere and thrashed star pros Georges Bastl and Radek Stepanek. His dramatic winning run came to a end against David Nalbandian, but a legend was born, and Britain had a new sporting hero.

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After all, he is arguably the most popular athlete in Great Britain and one of the best tennis players in the world. What's best about autobiographies is that the story is coming directly from the eyes of the athlete.

With all the same elements it's just like a regular biography, but on another personal level.

His Favorite Musician Is 50 Cent

According to Murray's ATP World Tour profile, American rapper 50 Cent is his favorite artist.

No matter if you're surprised or not by this, 50 Cent is easily one of the most popular rappers and overall musicians around.

His first two albums combined for triple platinum in Britain according to the British Recorded Music Industry, and a third (single album) went silver. So in addition to being big in America, Curtis Jackson is quite popular in Great Britain.

And with him being Murray's favorite artist, that only enhances the British stature of 50 Cent all together.

He Once Was Subject to Much Hate Mail

Back in 2006 Andy Murray made his own proverbial bed.

According to Karen Bale of the Daily Record, Murray's website was loaded with hate messages:

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The insults began after Murray said that, as a typical Scot, he would support "anyone but England" in the World Cup.

He also said in an interview he would be wearing a Paraguay shirt to watch Sven Goran Eriksson's team in their opening game.

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As you can see, England is quite passionate about fútbol and Murray crossed a harsh line.

So, it's not surprising to see him as a polarizing figure although that was six years ago as well. Nevertheless, it would be surprising to see Murray cross that line again.

His Older Bro Is a Pro

More known as a doubles player, Jamie Murray currently ranks No. 40 on the ATP World Tour.

In 2007 he won the Wimbledon mixed doubles and made the semifinals in 2008 and 2009. Additionally, the older Murray brother went to the U.S. Open mixed doubles semifinal in 2007 and final in 2008.

After some disappointing results thereafter Jamie lasted until the French Open semifinals in 2011 for mixed doubles, unfortunately he has yet to get past Round 3 in men's doubles of any grand slam.

On the bright side, the Murray brothers have two titles to hang their hats on. They won the 2010 Valencia Open and the 2011 Rakuten Japan Open Championship.

Despite those not being the most prestigious of competitions, the opportunity to play together is what any pair of siblings can ask for. And look for them competing together during the 2012 Summer Games.

He's Never Won a Grand Slam

Andy Murray is ranked No. 4 in the world, however, he's never won a grand slam title.

In four finals appearances Murray lost consecutive times in the Australian Open (2010, 2011) and once at the U.S. Open (2008) and Wimbledon (2012). Not surprising, three of the four have been at the hands of Roger Federer (the other being Novak Djokovic).

From a more positive perspective, Murray has made three other quarterfinal appearances (2008 Wimbledon and 2009, 2010 French Open) to go with six in the semifinals.

So he has been one of the most consistent performers across the global landscape in recent years, but that first place finish continues to elude the best Britain has to offer.

He Was Born with a Split Knee-Cap

One legitimate reason for Andy Murray not having won a grand slam could be attributed to his knee since birth.

In an article by David Ornstein of BBC Sport from 2010:

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The star of British tennis was born with a bipartite patella - or split kneecap - and revealed after his first-round victory over Richard Gasquet at this year's French Open that the condition has been causing him pain since the age of 16.

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Ornstein then reported that BBC Sport spoke sports physician Dr. Andy Franklyn-Miller about the condition:

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In essence, it is a kneecap made up of two separate bones instead of one.

"When your thigh muscle contracts, a regular kneecap will pull the patella tendon in one direction but a bipartite patella will pull it in different directions. This abnormal loading irritates and inflames the tendon, resulting in pain."

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For any athlete of any sport a split knee-cap doesn't appear to feel good. Nonetheless, let's hope for Murray's sake that he can continue to play at a high level and remain among the best in tennis for the immediate future.

He Once Believed That Tennis Was Fixed

This is somewhat hard to believe considering it's coming from a pro player himself, but Andy Murray certainly expressed his thoughts on the matter.

Back in 2007 according to BBC News:

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Murray told BBC 5live last week that "everyone knows" corruption goes on but later said it was taken out of context.

"Three or four of the players have said that they have been offered matches and, yeah, I did say that stuff was going on," he said.

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Giving Murray the benefit of the doubt, it's not surprising to see anything like this get taken out of context. When you consider how fast news flies in the virtual world anything can be quickly taken the wrong way.

And that was in 2007. Five years later news is moving even faster and we can only begin to imagine what this story had been like in 2012.

He Could Have Been a Two-Sport Pro Athlete

Although it's incredibly difficult to be a two-sport pro athlete, Andy Murray potentially could have been just that.

Now it involves soccer and tennis unlike Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders but regardless, Murray's natural talent, which possesses an elite gift, is quite rare and unique.

In an article by David McCarthy of the Daily Record:

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Back then Andy Murray was a 15-year-old juggling football and tennis so well that he was offered the chance to train with Rangers while being one of the top tennis juniors in Europe.

"I was in the top four or five in Europe at tennis when I was 13-14 but I could have been the 25th best or probably worse than that in Scotland at football but I would never know.

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So rather than trying to pursue both or even fútbol, Murray stuck with tennis and looking back it's safe to say he made the correct decision.

His Favorite Movie Is Braveheart

Braveheart may be a favorite movie to many people, but this fits well for Andy Murray as listed by MurraysWorld.com.

For anyone who has never seen Braveheart, this slide won't spoil the movie for you.

It just suits well for Murray, because the movie in a nutshell revolves around the Scottish fighting for their independence.

As we all know, Murray was born in Scotland and as a child almost lost his life at the Dunblane Massacre. So to an extent, Murray can relate back to the 13th Century of his birth country and do so with great pride.

To that end, it'll be interesting to see how Murray performs in front of the home crowd during the most elite of competitions.

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