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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | London, ENG |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Playing golf, football, playing video games, supporting Scottish football team Hibernian. (guardian.co.uk, 05 May 2008; atpworldtour.com, 13 Jun 2016; The Big Interview with Graham Hunter Podcast, 11 Sep 2020) |
| Other sports | He had a golf handicap of three at the age of 16. (independent.co.uk, 16 Jun 2011) |
| Famous relatives | His grandfather Roy Erskine played professional football in Scotland. His mother Judy was a professional tennis player, tennis coach and has served as captain of the British Fed Cup team. His younger brother Andy is also a British professional tennis player, and won gold in singles at the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016. (ATP, ITF 28 Jun 2006; news.bbc.co.uk, 08 Jul 2007; SportsDeskOnline, 20 Jul 2021) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | His mother was a former Scotland national tennis coach, so he was always at the courts when she was working. "Me and my brother were pretty active kids I guess. We played a lot of tennis at home, down at the Dunblane Sports Club. They had four artificial grass courts and we'd wind the nets down and knock some balls around." |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | His mother and brother. (Athlete, 31Jul 2008) |
| Hero / Idol | British tennis player Tim Henman. (Athlete, 31Jul 2008) |
| Awards and honours | He and partner Neal Skupski won the Doubles Fan's Favourite Award as part of the Association of Tennis Professionals [ATP] Awards in 2020. (atptour.com, 21 Dec 2020) He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire [OBE] in 2016 for his services to tennis and charity. (scotsman.com, 11 Jun 2016; atpworldtour.com, 13 Jun 2016) He was named in the Team of the Year at the 2015 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards after his role in Great Britain's Davis Cup winning team of the same year. (bbc.co.uk, 22 Dec 2015) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Louis Cayer [personal, national], CAN, from 2013; Alan MacDonald [personal], GBR |
| Handedness | Left |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He began playing tennis at age four. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | Stretch, Chicken Wings. (olympics.org.uk, 23 Aug 2010) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "Live the dream." (Athlete, 31Jul 2008) |
| Other information | BATTLE OF THE BRITS In 2020 he organised a tennis tournament for British players named the 'Battle of the Brits'. The tournament was designed to provide a tournament for British players while the normal tours were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's been such an unusual year, with so many disruptions that any competitive tennis people can get is welcome. We wanted to give the British fans their tennis fix because for so many fans, tennis in this country is basically the month of July. For them to see competitive tennis at that time of year, especially all the British players, was a cool thing to be able to do." (bbc.co.uk, 16 Dec 2020; bbc.co.uk, 18 Sep 2020) EYES ON TOKYO He competed at the Olympic Games in 2008, 2012 and 2016, but has never won an Olympic medal. "It's a bit different with tennis and also with all the issues with the calendar. I have been three times before [to the Olympics] and while I've been very fortunate to be part of it, personally it has never worked out for me in terms of results or performances. But who knows, maybe Tokyo will be fourth time lucky." (tennishead.net, 04 Jan 2021) DROUGHT BROKEN At Wimbledon in 2007, he became the first British player to win a title in any event at Wimbledon for 20 years when he claimed the mixed doubles title with Serbia's Jelena Jankovic. Prior to his victory the last British winners at Wimbledon were Jo Durie and Jeremy Bates, who won the mixed doubles title in 1987. (guardian.co.uk, 04 May 2008) DUNBLANE MASSACRE In 1996, he was at the school that was the site of the Dunblane massacre in Scotland, when gunman Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and their teacher, before turning the gun on himself. (bbc.co.uk, 17 Sep 2015; dailymail.co.uk, 05 Jun 2008; scotsman.com, 24 Jun 2013; theguardian.com, 16 Jun 2014) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
| Family | Wife Alejandra Gutierrez |
General Interest | |
| Injuries | In January 2014 he withdrew from the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, due to a lower back injury. (atptour.com, 05 Jul 2019) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Becoming world no.1 in the doubles rankings in 2016. (dunlopsports.com, 04 Apr 2021) |