Behind Every Successful Murray There's a Judy

There was a special moment in London this summer and it had nothing to do with Wimbledon, after Andy Murray clinched the final point in his victory at Queens he moved over to the stands where the 'influence' sat and gave her a kiss.

No it wasn't his girlfriend Kim, it was his mother Judy, the kiss was accompanied by a collective 'awww' from the crowd, and a few laughs thrown in for good effect.

However with Judy being such a influence and guide in Murray's upbringing and success, this fan believes that he made the right choice.

There is always one factor that you can expect at a Murray match, and that's the support of his mother. She is there, heart in mouth and encouragement at the ready on the tip of her tongue.

Judy is no stranger to tennis success herself, few know that she won many titles with Dunfermline LTC as well as being a part of 7 Scottish cup winning teams in the 1990's. Not only was she willing to offer advice, financial backing, she was prepared to lead as an example on the court as well as off.

She worked to gain qualifications to put herself in the best situation to offer the best advice and guidance. While at university Judy completed the elementary tennis coach course. She advanced later to achieve the highest award in the UK, becoming the first Scot to gain the LTA performance coach award.

Former Tennis Scotland President Peter Nicolson was quoted as saying:

"Judy always majored in encouragement. She could have invented the phrase 'c'mon' as she looked on from the sidelines," Nicolson said. "In the 30 or so years I have known Judy I have never known her to be anything other than totally positive in her dealings with all her charges."

Mr Nicolson has know Judy Murray for over 30 years, and his words can reflect her attitude when Murray was winning compeitions as a small child to his victory at Queens last month.

A lot has been made lately about the British Juniors and why we are not producing tennis players to reflect the money that is invested by the LTA, Judy offered some advice for some of the juniors competing at the moment

"Many of the juniors from other countries seem hungrier, as they don't get provided with as many opportunities and as many coaching staff.

"In many ways, our kids are spoilt by the opportunities they have. We have to find a way to make them hungrier, to set goals for them and then help them to achieve them."

Several Juniors have been in trouble over the past 12 months, British Junior Marcus Willis was sent home from the Australian Open for turning up to a training session late, and another time turning up without any rackets. Could you ever imagine either Andy or Jamie Murray turning up late and without rackets.

It wouldn't happen because Judy would not let it happen, as a player she was hungry for titles, and as a mother she is hungry for the success of her boys.

How much does Judy care about the success of her Boys:

"I was so excited during the Wawrinka match and so relieved that he had managed to get through."

"I put a lot of emotion into my supporting. It's just the way that I am."

"It means I'm always shattered at the end of a tight match. The Wawrinka match nearly sent me to an early grave."

She has been quoted as saying that the way to keep Andy Murray focused is to make sure that he has nothing to worry about but tennis. She is on hand to do his washing, make sure he eats what he needs to, and keeps his life as normal as possible

She offers a supportive network of family support, something that every player needs, people to fall back on in times of need, and not only does she have the tennis qualifications to advise Murray, but she offers so much more.

We might only see her animated presence in the stands, but without the backing of Judy Murray, i question whether Murray would be the man he is today, and more relevant to this article the tennis player he is today.