You can be sure that shoppers at a Miami sports equipment store didn't have this on their bingo cards around the time of this year's Miami Open: seeing Andy Murray labouring towards the checkout with a mountain of equipment after nearly stripping bare the tennis aisle. Ten racquets, a weighing machine, lead tape... the former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings wasn't settling for half measures.
Murray, who celebrated his 37th birthday Wednesday, surprised many tennis fans this week when he arrived at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Bordeaux, France with Yonex Ezone racquets in hand, having previously used Head for more than 20 years.
The Scot’s journey to making that change began after a third-round loss in Miami, where he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss nearly two months. Despite being away from the match court, Murray tinkered with his new equipment and tested it all ‘in the lab’.
“When I lost in Miami, I went to a sports shop and I bought about 10 racquets. I bought a machine to weigh the racquets, check the balance and swingweight of the racquets. I bought lead tape,” Murray told reporters at the BNP Paribas Primrose. “I measured all the racquets myself.
“It was something to do when I was injured. I tried lots of different racquets. I tested them with Hawkeye when I was able to.”
Murray’s latest change is just further proof that the three-time major champion is not letting any opportunity for improvement pass him by this late in his two-decade career.
“I’ve been playing with the same racquet for 20 years and in that time, things change,” said Murray, who faces Gregoire Barrere on Wednesday in Bordeaux. “The game has changed. I used the same string as well for all of that time.”
Murray also took time at the Bordeaux Challenger to answer fan’s ‘most asked’ questions, drawing laughs from the seventh-seeded wild card as he discussed his sense of humor on social media and whether he and Jamie Murray are twins.
A knight, an Olympic legend and a…twitter king? Watch @andy_murray take on most asked 🔍#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/a7GvzV8TDp
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 16, 2024
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