Andy Murray Very Nearly Hits Princess Anne With Flag Ahead Of Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony

Let's hope he's had a practice before the opening ceremony...
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Our best and brightest sporting stars are gearing up for the Rio 2016 Olympics - but Andy Murray hasn’t quite kicked things off as we’d hoped.

The Wimbledon champion has been chosen as the flag-bearer for Team GB, an honour previously bestowed upon the likes of Steve Redgrave, Chris Hoy and Matthew Pinsent.

But during a photoshoot, Murray didn’t quite appear to have full control of the flag.

At one point it even looked like Princess Anne might even get a smack in the face from the standard.

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Poor old Andy Murray struggles with the Team GB flag
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But the royal took his fumbling in good humour and appeared to poke fun at the tennis star, bobbing out of site behind the flag and pulling faces.

The official Royal Family Twitter account also poked fun at the tennis champ:

 Poor old Andy, even his own mother had a dig at him:

Murray, who won a gold medal at London 2012 in the men’s singles, will carry the flag for Great Britain in Friday night’s opening ceremony.

According to the BBC, he said of the position: “To lead out Team GB will be an incredible honour, the biggest in sport.”

He said that he had “great memories” of the London 2012 games, adding: “The privilege of being the flag bearer is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life and will certainly be one of the highlights of my career.”

Just maybe have a little practice with the flag before Friday evening, eh Andy?

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Looking slightly more in control by himself
Clive Brunskill via Getty Images

Murray will face Serbia’s Victor Troicki in his first Olympic singles match on Sunday.

He is also competing alongside his brother Jamie in the men’s doubles event.