Andy Murray's Rant: 5 Possible Reasons Behind The Meltdown

Andy Murray's cryptic tirade has dominated the fallout from his Wimbledon exit.

• What's It All About, Andy? Murray's Wimbledon Exit Dominated By Cryptic On-Court Tirade

"Five fucking minutes before the match," Murray cursed when 2-4 down in the third set against Grigor Dimitrov. In an attempt to shed some light on his Centre Court outburst, here are five suggestions as to what could have affected the Scot five minutes before the match...

"Why did I take that call from Salmond?"

He was reminded of that Richie Tenenbaum clip

"Why'd you choke out there, Baumer?" Perhaps Murray's preparation was interrupted by someone mentioning the mother of all tennis meltdowns, when Richie Tenenbaum made 72 unforced errors, failed to win a single game, played "the worst tennis of his life", took off his shoes, one of his socks and was seen crying. Windswept Fields has never seen anything like it and the very mention of it possibly affected Murray's build-up.

Kim Sears switched Loose Women on

Daytime TV exposes terrestrial TV's limitations like no other time, and five minutes before Murray emerged onto Centre Court at 1pm Loose Women was on. Kim Sears is a huge fan of the show and thought the sexist chit-chat would allow Murray to switch off and concentrate on his game when, like catching a glimpse of Miranda or Mrs Brown's Boys, it actually infuriated him.

Alex Salmond rang him for a ticket

It's bad enough for Murray Alex Salmond is a compatriot. Considering Salmond's penchant to irritate just about anyone south of the border, it would make sense if Murray vented his spleen upon remembering he received a call and heard the Linlithgow politician's burr demanding ticke's for Centre Court.

Shock picture: Alex Salmond in England

He was told his mum was watching Jamie

Few care about the doubles at Wimbledon, and fewer care about Jamie Murray's tennis career. His mum, Judy, understandably does, though, and her attendance for his match caused her to arrive late for two-time Grand Slam singles winner Andy's quarter-final contest. The sibling rivalry consumed Murray after he discovered mum would be absent for the start.

Judy Murray keeps tabs on Jamie on her Smartphone

He had a row with Kim Sears

The less frivolous - and plausible - suggestion, given the two departed the All England Club separately and Sears looked visibly upset (well, her boyfriend had just been thrashed). Would she have been with him five minutes before a match? We may never know, but a spousal tiff would explain Murray's rage and why Dimitrov thought he looked distracted.