Revealed: Wimbledon Hero Andy Murray's Letter To His Stroppy 12-Year-Old Self

Revealed: Wimbledon Hero Andy Murray's Letter To His Stroppy 12-Year-Old Self

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has revealed he wrote a letter to his 12-year-old self in which he attacked his 'childish' temper tantrums that could have blocked his path to becoming the Wimbledon champion he is today.

When he first burst onto the scene, Andy was seen as an Incredible Sulk who didn't have the mental strength to achieve a feat like Sunday's victory against Novak Djokovic, to add to his Olympic Gold medal and US Grand Slam.

He was a grumpy, stroppy youth, prone to outbursts of rage on the tennis court and at the age of 12 he was thrown out of the Scottish junior championships during the final - a moment he believes helped shape the player he is today.

As part of a feature for ESPN Magazine, Murray wrote a letter to his 12-year-old self, in which he describes the pleasure he has taken from tennis since he curbed his fiery temper.

Here's the letter in full:

"Dear Andy,

"There's no stopping what you're about to do. I can still feel your veins throbbing and you gripping the racket so hard that your knuckles burn. And I can feel you letting the racket go with everything you have.

"Even if I could stop you, I wouldn't. You need to see that racket fly through the air in Craiglockhart -- fly for what seems like forever, until it lands by the umpire's chair and slides under the fence, out of reach. You need to feel sick about getting thrown out of a Scottish junior championship that you should've won.

"There will be this thing called YouTube, Andy. And when you're my age, you'll use it to look back on your first pro appearance at Wimbledon. It will take you another six years, but when you get there, you'll be skipping around the court wearing such a big smile that your face almost cracks. That's when you'll realize you love this game too much to let something as childish as anger get in your way.

"You'll start breathing evenly and keeping your head clear on court changes. You'll learn to put tactics over temper. And you'll have so many memorable matches, it will make your 12-year-old head spin."

What would you write to your own 12-year-old self?

Close