THE achievements of tennis star Andy Murray should be honoured by the Scottish Government, an MSP has said.
MSPs are being urged to put their names to a motion from Alba MSP Ash Regan which calls on the Government to pay tribute to “one of Scotland’s greatest ever athletes”.
Murray retired from professional tennis after he and doubles partner Dan Evans lost to Americans Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
Regan’s motion highlights Murray greatest achievements including three Grand Slam titles – two at Wimbledon and one at the US Open – and two Olympic gold medals.
Murray – who spent 41 weeks as world number one - remains the only tennis player to have won back-to-back Olympic gold medals, at London 2012 and Rio 2016 respectively.
Regan has called for cross-party support across the Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to bring forward plans to “suitably honour” Murray’s legacy.
Alba hope it will be one of the most popular motions ever brought to the Parliament.
It reads: “The Parliament offers its thanks to Sir Andy Murray on his retirement from tennis, Parliament congratulates his unprecedented career record which it understands includes: 1001 singles matches; 739 victories; 105 top 10 wins; 46 ATP titles; 41 weeks as World No. 1; 29 wins over the “Big 3”; 14 Masters 1000 titles; 11 Grand Slam finals; 3 Grand Slam titles; and two Olympic Gold medals, further it is noted that not only was Sir Andy Murray a champion on the court but also a supportive influence to young players off the court and one of the leading supporters of pay equality for women in tennis.
“The Scottish Parliament calls on the Scottish Government to mark the career of Sir Andy Murray and the positive impact he has had on Scottish society by bringing forward a suitable proposal to parliament to honour his achievements and legacy.”
Murray became well-known for his rivalries with the "big 3" - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - who along with the Scot have dominated tennis over the last two decades.
Evans and Murray saved an incredible eight match points across their three matches at the Paris Olympics, thrilling fans worldwide with their never-say-die attitude.
Murray, 37, shed tears as he left the court at Roland Garros on Thursday, but later put out a trademark quip on Twitter/X stating he “never even liked tennis anyway”.
Fans were also entertained after he changed his famously short bio from “I play tennis” to “I played tennis”.
