How good is Andy Murray at tennis? Mirror man finds out the hard way in Wimbledon masterclass
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Loading... - Kelly Cable
- 01 Oct 2021
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Andy Murray took time out of his training schedule to put budding tennis players through their paces at Wimbledon.
The two-time SW19 champion was joined by Tim Henman and current British No.1 Kyle Edmund to give a masterclass under the watchful eye of resident Wimbledon coach Dan Bloxham.
Each player hosted a series of drills to test different parts of their game.
Mirror Sport’s Jacob Murtagh was handed a wildcard into the event at the home of British tennis.
Here’s how he got on:
Attacking
Kyle Edmund has one of the best forehands in men’s tennis and he demonstrated how to build a point, turning defence into attack.
After skewing a couple of returns into the net, I managed to work my way into the rally and before putting away a volley or two.
Serving
This was Tim Henman’s area of expertise, as he was renowned for his serve and volley game.
Special emphasis was on ball toss, ensuring it’s thrown in front of you to maximise power, and weighing just 79kg I need all the help I can get!
Being a lanky 6ft 2, I have to toss the ball extra high, and after a few dodgy attempts I started to get the hang of it.
However, I’ve got a way to go to get near John Isner’s 157mph world record!
Returning
Andy Murray has one of the best returns of all time, so who better to get pointers from.
I’ve got a woeful forehand (often electing to slice instead), so as good as Murray is, I wasn’t expecting him to work miracles.
The Scot encouraged us to focus on keeping the ball in play.
There was a penalty for anyone plunging two successive shots into the net, but despite walking the tightrope I managed to avoid a forfeit.
Murray, Henman and Edmund were speaking as part of Jaguar’s official vehicle partnership with Wimbledon, which saw the Jaguar ambassadors lead a tennis masterclass alongside former British number 1, Tim Henman.
