Unique: “I’m worried about the Davis Cup” – Andy Murray is skeptical of rumors of change

Andy Murray believes tennis would benefit greatly from creating documentaries like Netflix Drive to survive, but is concerned that sport is not open enough to grant the necessary access to such a behind – the – scenes project.

Drive to survive as a result, the popularity of Formula 1 has grown in recent years as TV ratings have risen sharply in most markets – especially in the United States – and interest among younger populations.

Murray gave unprecedented access to the film crew of the Amazon Prime documentary Andy Murray: Coating who described his injury journey in 2017–2019.

“I knew the woman who was filming it, and I was kind to her and trusted her – otherwise I wouldn’t have done it,” Murray told Eurosport in an interview. “Because we had spent so much time together, and I let him in on my surgery and my smallest moments — things I would normally only talk to my family or friends about.

Murray says he’s willing to take part in a documentary series about the tennis tour if the opportunity comes after seeing its impact. Drive to survive has been in Formula One.

“I could [be open to a similar docuseries in tennis] because I believe there are huge benefits to sport, ”explained the former number one in the world.

He added: “I don’t think tennis is open enough to allow access to one. It’s hard because yes, it’s great. A lot of people have talked Drive to survive. I myself have watched a few episodes. I haven’t watched the whole thing, but I liked it and yeah, something like that would be really good for tennis.

“But for something like that to work, the people who describe it need to have a lot of access. All the players have to be happy with it. If they see that they get a reward for it – maybe financially – then I’m sure they would do it well.

“A lot of players would like to [be open to it] but you also have to trust the people who describe it as well. There have been documentaries or documentary series that have followed sports teams in the past and it has not gone well. Football teams or anyone who survives it looks awful. So I think if it’s done well and that there’s respect and trust between the athletes and the people who describe it, I think it can be incredibly positive.

“I would say it’s unlikely the players would agree to that.”

Peter Bayer, secretary general for motorsports at the FIA ​​(Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), understands the interest of other sports in repeating Formula 1 experiences with documentaries, but is not too sure they will be able to make the most of it.

“Netflix has been a huge success,” Bayer told Eurosport on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last week.

“I think it would be hard to copy and paste; maybe in some other sport it could work, but then you also have to look at how much access F1 and the teams have given. I couldn’t see many organizations being so transparent and saying, ‘Put me a microphone and follow me all day with the camera “.

“I think it’s the mix of interesting information where it’s mixed with intrigue, sometimes maybe they’re a little exaggerating, but I think that’s what people want to see. It’s a mix of reality, entertainment and sports, and that’s what makes it so successful. Because sports are something that already carries a lot of emotion, and Netflix has kind of taken away all the filters and shows a pure feeling and pure sports.

“You’re mixing it with a multi-million or multi-billion dollar business at the same time, and that probably makes this format so unique. While I wish all my sports colleagues to have the same, I think it’s going to be hard.

Worried about Davis Cup – “I’m worried”

Scot has made numerous appearances in an exhibition tournament in the UAE capital and was asked to weigh in on rumors moving from Abu Dhabi to the host Davis Cup final next year.

Competition organizers ITF and Kosmos want to get four different European cities to host the group stage of the Davis Cup before Abu Dhabi enters as a neutral host in the semi-finals, semi-finals and final.

The move has garnered a lot of criticism, and Murray added his voice to those who doubt the success of the final on the neutral field.

“I’m worried about the Davis Cup,” Murray admitted.

“I’ve obviously played here in Abu Dhabi and there are a lot of foreigners and more, and I feel like when I played here, there has always been a lot of crowd and support in my matches. It’s been really good.

Murray pointed out that the partisan crowd passionately encouraging his home team was one of the most appealing aspects of the Davis Cup, and he worries that it is now gone forever.

“I think it made the Davis Cup stand out for the players and everyone, and it was good for the sport,” said Murray, who led the UK Davis Cup championship with a win from Belgium in Ghent in 2015.

“It doesn’t mean you couldn’t host it here and there would be a very large audience there, I’m not saying the auditoriums would be empty. But it’s just not the same when you don’t have that biased set.

“It was a problem when it was in Spain too. I’m just skeptical that enough tennis fans would travel, so if Spain played Russia in the finals here, would you get enough Spanish fans to travel and enough Russian fans to travel. So I think it’s me concern.

Salah regrets Murray

The conversation with Murray ended in a much lighter tone as the British shared their views on their Premier League fantasy football team in this campaign.

Murray had another choice in his draft with his friends. The person who got the first choice chose Bruno Fernandes, which meant that Murray could easily grab Mohamed Salah from Liverpool. He had 90 seconds to decide between the Egyptian and Harry Kane, and in the end he chose the latter – a decision he does regret now.

“I thought okay, he’s going 25, 30 goals for Tottenham this season. [but] he scores 35, 40 goals in Man City [if he goes there]. I left it to the last second and took Kane and the street apparently, ”Murray revealed, adding that Salah is his favorite player right now.

– I’m not saying he’s the same as Lionel Messi, but apparently they’re both left-footed, both great drippers and more. I think his personality is reminiscent of Ronaldinho.

– When I was in Barcelona, ​​at the age of 15, I went a lot to watch the matches there. And I just always loved her because I watched her and she looked like she had the time of her life and was just celebrating.

“I watched them warm up before the match once and the whole team did sprints and everything and he was just on his own, just playing with the ball, going on, dripping, kicking the ball like air and then trapping it and more.

– Salah reminds me a little bit of the way she treats the game and everything, so I love watching her. But I made a bad decision this year.