Published On: Mon, Jan 22nd, 2024

Andy Murray jabs at British rival again after ‘clown’ post over Australian Open row | Tennis | Sport


has taken another jab at Liam Broady days after labelling his British rival ‘a clown’ during a heated exchange on social media. The pair locked horns after Broady pulled up Murray on his praise of Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who came from behind to beat Dianne Parry in a stunning third-round victory at the Australian Open on Friday.

The 16-year-old found herself 5-1 down to her French foe in the deciding set but clawed her way back into the match by winning five out of six games before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Murray took to X, formerly Twitter, after the game to give the Russian her flowers after the commentary team covering her match questioned her mental fortitude.

“Andreeva down 5-1 in third,” he wrote. “Commentator ‘she really needs to work on mental side of her game.. she’s too hard on herself when she’s losing’. 30 minutes later 7-6 Andreeva wins.

“Maybe the reason she turned the match round is because of her mental strength. Maybe she turned the match around because she is hard on herself and demands more of herself when she’s losing/playing badly? Winner.”

Broady then replied: “Mental strength is the wrong phrase,” he said. “To come from 5-1 down in the third in a slam at her age is great mental strength. But perhaps if she had greater mental composure she wouldn’t have gone 5-1 down in the third in the first place?”

To which, Murray, puzzled by Broady’s comment, responded: “I don’t understand your tweet. You said mental strength is the wrong phrase and then in the next sentence say coming from 5-1 down is great mental strength. Liam Broady the walking contradiction.” Murray capped off the post with a clown emoji.

Murray, not willing to let bygones be bygones, took aim at Broady on Sunday after the Brit posted a video of him returning to training after a lengthy layoff. “First time hitting balls since Hong Kong today and it felt so good,” wrote Broady. “One step and hit, same footwork speed as 20 years ago.”

Murray replied: “Footwork speed is the wrong phrase. To move like that at 12 years old is incredible footwork speed. But perhaps if you had better footwork composure you wouldn’t have had the problems with your feet in the first place?”



Source link