Andy Murray has always had a way of creating alchemy on a tennis court. But, even in retirement, he is discovering new tricks. For more than an hour he has little kids from West Byfleet junior school transfixed as he coaches them through the joys of mini-tennis. There are swings and wild misses, gentle advice and high fives. In fact Murray is so locked in, he even makes his familiar power-exhale noise while he gently lifts the ball over a tiny net.<\/p>\n
In short, he is a natural \u2013 even if he doesn\u2019t quite see it that way himself. \u201cI think they were just buzzing to get a few hours out of the classroom to be honest,\u201d he says, typically self-effacing, as he chats during a quick break. \u201cBut it\u2019s great. I love seeing kids on a tennis court having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes his four children. Although he indicates that none of them have the desire or talent to be the next Andy Murray.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not good tennis players,\u201d he says, smiling. \u201cBut my eldest daughter had her first school match yesterday. I hit a couple of balls with her in the morning. She was saying to me, \u2018oh, I\u2019m terrible\u2019 and she was laughing about it. But she actually went undefeated. She and her partner won their matches. We were a bit surprised at her level being that high. So they all hit a little bit, but not a whole lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray is in West Byfleet to promote an LTA and government initiative that has led to more than 3,000 dilapidated park tennis courts being brought back to life in three years. It is something that clearly matters deeply to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was growing up, a lot of the park courts around where we lived were almost unusable with broken nets and weeds growing out the ground,\u201d he says. \u201cSo to have 3,000 more courts just gives more people an opportunity to play. If you want more players at the top, this is where it starts.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that, Murray\u2019s thoughts inevitably turn to Wimbledon. Although he admits that now his playing days are behind him, and his coaching stint with Novak Djokovic has ended<\/a>, it will take something special to lure him back to the All England Club this year.<\/p>\n Andy Murray says he won\u2019t be giving public advice to Jack Draper with Wimbledon about to start. Photograph: Christopher Lee\/Getty Images for LTA<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have any plans to go,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not working there. I don\u2019t go to watch tennis as a fan. But if one of my kids wanted to go along and watch, I obviously would take them. Or if a British player made the final I would go. I went to the Djokovic v Alcaraz final<\/a> a couple of years ago, just because I had a feeling it was going to be a great match. But I won\u2019t be there otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n Given Jack Draper\u2019s form<\/a>, Murray may have to change his mind and he is clearly impressed with the 23-year-old\u2019s development.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not surprised that he\u2019s up there,\u201d he says. \u201cI trained with him quite a bit when he was younger, and he\u2019s very good. He has a brilliant game. He\u2019s a big guy, lefty, with a big forehand and a really consistent backhand. He also moves really well for a big guy.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just had lots of niggles and various injury issues. But this year he\u2019s been fit for the majority of the season and his ranking is where it should be and where it deserves to be.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Murray is also too smart to offer advice in public to Draper \u2013 not least because when he was coming up he had the likes of Greg Rusedski making suggestions that weren\u2019t always helpful.<\/p>\n