Culture

Watch Andy Murray Bluntly Remind A Reporter That Women Tennis Players Exist

Um sorry, how could anyone ever forget about Serena Williams?

by Meg Watson  13 July 2017
Andy Murray

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Your favourite grumpy tennis man did a good thing today! After losing out to Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon quarterfinals overnight, Andy Murray hit back at a reporter who described his opponent as “the first American to reach a grand slam semi-final since 2009”.

Murray interrupted the reporter with a correction: “male player”. After some confusion back and forth, the journalist laughed and said “yes, first male player, that’s for sure” while Murray stared back in deathly silence.

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It’s a cute watch.

Of course, Murray’s right. There are a whole bunch of US women who’ve achieved this feat since 2009 including Madison Keys, Coco Vandeweghe and the Williams sisters. Venus Williams is literally playing a semi-final today and Serena won a grand final last year while pregnant so…

Murray has a decent history standing up for women in tennis. He regularly fought off the big babies whose heads were exploding over his decision to hire a female coach, tennis great Amélie Mauresmo, and used it as an opportunity to talk about equal rights in the sport. “Inequality is something I started to see and become passionate about,” he said at the time.

Since then, he’s backed female players’ calls for equal billing on centre court and regularly reminded people that the Williams sisters exist. Last year another sports journo asked him what it was like to be the first person to win two Olympic gold medals for tennis, and Murray told him to ask Venus and Serena who “have won about four each”.

Each time he speaks out like this, he’s met with a flood of love online and today is no exception:

(Yes that includes the First Minister of Scotland and his mum).

While this is great, it’s also a good idea to keep it in perspective. Murray’s literally just corrected a reporter on a fact. Small acts like this matter — and small acts from men especially can be crucial — but it’s pretty sad that being A Decent Dude is still seen as a revolutionary act.

In conclusion, let’s revisit the time Serena Williams reminded everyone she’s the GOAT and told a reporter to apologise for insulting her skill. Hell yeah. Who could ever forget this woman?