The mother of Sir Andy Murray, former Tennis World no.1, Jude Murray has open up on how deeply she was offended by German former world no 1, Boris Becker’s comments after her son Andy Murray’s 2011 Australian Open final defeat.
Playing in his second consecutive final at Melbourne Park, Murray again came up short as he was beaten 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 by Novak Djokovic.
After the match former world No 1 Becker suggested Murray needed to make changes to his entourage if he was to finally make the step up and win a first Grand Slam.
“He doesn’t need to make major changes but maybe there are a few details for the Grand Slams,” the German great said.
“Is it the right decision for his mother and the whole team to be around? Maybe he needs someone around who has won a Grand Slam.”
Judy hit back at Becker a few years ago telling Radio Times magazine: “I think if I were the dad of sons, I wouldn’t have been noticed.”
And now she has again highlighted the damage Becker’s comments caused.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive Boris Becker for that,” she told BBC Scotland’s Fair Play podcast.
“He’s never apologised. I don’t think he would ever understand what he made me feel like.
“I called him out on it a couple of years later. I thought it was right to let him know how much damage he had caused by doing something like that.”
Judy, who coached Andy as well as her eldest son Jamie early on in their careers, explained how she stayed indoors for ‘about three days’ after Becker’s comments made headlines.
“I just saw this on the street outside where I live,” she recalled.
“I went home, I didn’t go out for about three days and I really struggled with that.
“Boris Becker is such a huge figure in tennis and I thought, ‘people will think he knows what he’s talking about, they’re going to think that’s my fault.’ And actually, I hardly ever went to the tournaments.
“Most players have their parents or their families with them at the Grand Slams. Those are the events where you need the most emotional support. It’s incredibly important.”
The 60-year-old former Great Britain Fed Cup captain says women are always held to a different standard, especially when it comes to sport.
“I came in for an awful lot of criticism simply for being a competitive woman who was pumping her fist watching her kid play in the same way that I had done all of his tennis playing life,” she said.
“I was being singled out by people who had never met me, never knew what we’d been through. It made me feel like there was something wrong with being a competitive mum, whereas if I’d been a competitive dad, you’d be applauded.”
