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Murray Shows Major Class in Vienna



Andy Murray takes a moment, in the midst of a difficult match against Gilles Simon, to be a good human. Sounds simple, right? Well, we can assure you it isn’t (common human decency is not trending on Twitter, or in reality, haven’t you noticed?).

More: Del Potro Sets Nishikori Clash in Basel

When Murray’s serve flies into the crowd and hits a spectator, Murray is quick to notice and to show genuine concern for the woman in the front row who was fussing about. Not only does Murray nod in her direction, he takes the time to inquire and observe that she’s okay, and even walks over to check with her, giving her a nice high-five before he heads back to continue play.

As is noted by commentary, it’s not clear whether the woman is an official or a member of the public, but it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the action of Murray and his willingness to show compassion.

Murray gets so much heat from the public because of his ongoing dialog with his coaching box, but he really doesn’t get enough credit for being an exceptional person of character.

Some would say that it’s unnecessary to stop play to do what Murray did, but we say that Murray had the perfect reaction. Tennis is about the fans—those who pay huge fees to watch the professionals play—and Murray gets it. He’s also intuitive to know that nobody likes to spend their evening in Vienna getting tagged by rogue tennis balls, at least not with some acknowledgement. So Murray does what he thinks is right. He gives the fan a reassuring moment before moving on the next point.

Now there’s a woman in Vienna who can say that one of the best tennis players in the world is a good person who walked over to her in the middle of a match to make sure she was okay. She wins, and tennis wins. The alternative would be, of course, “I went to a tennis match, got struck in the face, and nobody seemed to care.”

That didn’t happen. Andy Murray cared. Good on Andy Murray for caring.

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