THIS AFTERNOON, ANDY Murray suffered a fairly comprehensive defeat to US player Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.
Murray, who has been struggling with a worrisome hip injury for the duration of the tournament, lost to Querrey in five sets.
Hip injury or no hip injury, Murray was taking no guff in the press conference after the match. At one point, a journalist put it to him that his opponent was the “first US player to reach a major semifinal since 2009,” to which Andy Murray replied, “Male player.”
Flummoxed, the journalist replied, “I beg your pardon?” and Murray clarified that they meant it was the first time a US male player had reached a Grand Slam semifinal.
The reporter immediately corrected himself, laughed and moved on.
Andy Murray, shooting down a reporter and sticking up for the women at Wimbledon this evening pic.twitter.com/hSpMgUBxLW
— Richie McCormåck (@RichieMcCormack) July 12, 2017
Murray is obviously correct.
Notwithstanding the fact that Serena Williams has won 12 Grand Slams since 2009, several of her compatriots have reached major semifinals since 2009.
Venus Williams has reached three semifinals and a final in that time period, while Coco Vandeweghe, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens have all reached the semifinal of the Australian Open in recent years.
The world number one has been widely praised for the swift correction and giving credit to the US players that have progressed to Grand Slam semifinals since 2009.
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
This is not the first time Andy Murray has seen fit to correct a reporter.
Last summer, BBC’s John Inverdale praised him for becoming the “first person ever to win two Olympic tennis gold medals” to which he replied:
Well, to defend the singles title … I think Venus and Serena have won about four each but hadn’t defended a singles title before.
G’wan Andy.
