An angry Judy Murray has claimed son Andy’s tennis legacy has been ‘ruined’ by the Scottish Government and Tennis Scotland.
It comes after plans to build a £20million national tennis centre were shelved, with Judy accusing the authorities of ‘apathy and lack of co-operation’.
The centre had been earmarked for near the Murrays’ family home in Dunblane, Perthshire, but plans have since taken a backseat.
Having consumed her life for well over a decade, Judy is understandably frustrated about the forced decision to sideline plans, telling The Herald: “I was encouraged to give it scale by Sport Scotland and the Lawn Tennis Association to become a centre of national significance.
“I would have to say I didn’t need that. I just wanted somewhere to work to develop other coaches and players.
“And I wanted it to be about community; to be open to everybody. Everything just took so long and got bigger and so the costs went up; we hit Covid and Brexit and had challenges with planning delays.
“I wondered how it can be so difficult to build something that is inherently good. We had set it up as a charity, so there was no commercial value to us in it whatsoever.”
She added: “I worked my butt off to try to get it to where we got it to. But when the construction costs began to rise steeply we really needed all the stakeholders who had committed to step up to help us to fill that gap. And that didn’t happen.
“We actually had the outline planning permission and we were ready to go for the detailed planning permission.”
During the scathing attack, the mum to iconic tennis duo Andy and Jamie blasted Tennis Scotland, suggesting they’ve neglected the sport in the country.
Judy added: “I don’t have any confidence in the leadership of Tennis Scotland and that’s a major reason for me not to get involved in anything else here.
“Even when it was the 10-year anniversary of Andy winning Wimbledon, they didn’t do anything, nor when he retired. But it’s never been about celebrating his achievements it was about using them to increase the profile of tennis in Scotland and the UK and reach communities that had previously been excluded.
“But what are they actually doing? They’ve now got around 20 full-time staff, but when they had a golden opportunity they dropped the ball spectacularly.”
Judy continued: “This was not to find another Andy. This was all about community sport. That’s absolutely where we are embedded. Everything that I did and the kids did was all through community sport in Dunblane.
“It was never about trying to turn them into champions. How they became champions I’m still not quite sure. But they’re a great example of anything’s possible. And I think they’re both great role models for Scottish kids.”
