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Coordinates: 56°11′02″N 3°58′03″W / 56.183827°N 3.967410°W / 56.183827; -3.967410

Dunblane
Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain
Dunblane  Dunblane shown within the Stirling council area
Population	7,911 (2001)
OS grid reference	NN779007
Civil parish	Dunblane and Lecropt
Council area	Stirling
Lieutenancy area	Stirling and Falkirk
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DUNBLANE
Postcode district	FK15
Dialling code	01786
Police	Central Scotland
Fire	Central Scotland
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Stirling
Scottish Parliament	Clackmannanshire and Dunblane
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Dunblane (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small cathedral city and former burgh north of Stirling in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The town is situated off the A9 road, on the way north to Perth. Its main landmark is Dunblane Cathedral and the Allan Water runs through the town centre, with the Cathedral and the High Street on the east side. Dunblane had a population of 7,911 at the 2001 census,^[1] although this was estimated to have grown to 8,840 by 2006.^[2] The civil parish of Dunblane and Lecropt had a population of 8,863 in 2001.^[3]

The town is served by Dunblane railway station.

History[link]

A map of Dunblane from 1945

The name Dunblane is traditionally believed to mean "fort of Blane". This early saint (Old Irish Bláán) flourished probably in the late 6th century. His main seat was Kingarth on the Isle of Bute. He or his followers may have founded a church at Dunblane, or the cult of Bláán may have come there with settlers from what is now Argyll in later centuries. However, documentary information from this period is difficult to verify. The spelling of Dunblane varies wildly between these documents, casting some doubt as to the actual derivation from the Gaelic.

Allan Water, Dunblane

Dunblane Cathedral in February 2012

The earliest evidence for Christianity on the site are two cross-slabs of the 10th to 11th centuries which are preserved in the cathedral. Incorporated into the later medieval building, but originally free-standing, is an 11th-century bell-tower, whose height was increased in the 15th century. The nave and aisleless choir are 13th century. Dunblane did not have a rich or extensive medieval diocese (37 parishes), and the cathedral is relatively modest in scale, but its refined architecture is much admired, as is its setting overlooking the valley of the Allan Water. After the Reformation, the nave of the cathedral was abandoned and soon became roofless and used for burials. The choir was retained as the parish church. The nave was re-roofed and the Cathedral provided with new furnishings by Robert Rowand Anderson between 1889 and 1893. During the boom years of the Hydropathy movement in the 19th century, Dunblane was the location of a successful hydropathic establishment (see photo below).^[4][5]

Dunblane is split into two Church of Scotland parishes: the Cathedral and St Blane's Church. Dunblane Cathedral is remarkable in having retained more of its late-medieval choir stalls than any other Scottish church building (except King's College Chapel, Aberdeen), and also is noted for its organ. Further fragments of medieval woodwork from the Cathedral are displayed in the town's museum, formerly the Cathedral Museum, situated nearby. Though still used as a parish church, the building is in the care of Historic Scotland. To the south of the cathedral are some stone vaults of medieval origin, which are the only remaining fragment of the bishop's palace.

The town was a royal burgh and part of Perthshire until the 1975 abolition of Scottish counties. Dunblane refers to itself as a city, due to the presence of Dunblane Cathedral. However this status was never officially recognised.^[6][7]

Dunblane Centre[link]

In September 2004 the Dunblane Centre^[8] opened.^[8] This purpose-built youth, family, arts, sports and meeting facility was built using money from a consolidation of several funds which were created in the aftermath of the 1996 tragedy.

It is now entirely self funding and is run by charity the Dunblane Youth and Sports Centre Trust (Charity No. SC027397),^[9] with a board of trustees from the community (Steve Birnie, Chris Finnerty, Anne Marie Campbell, Gerard Gourley, Claire Moore, Stewart Prodger and David Spooner.

Schools[link]

Dunblane has three primary schools, one 5 - 18 school and one secondary school. Four of these are public. The remaining, Queen Victoria School, is a private boarding school. There are currently around two thousand pupils in schools in Dunblane.

Dunblane Primary School[link]

Located on Doune Road, this two-storey building is situated in the heart of the residential area. The school has a public playing field (which is regularly used for extracurricular activities and local clubs) and a public nursery attached. In 1996, the school was the scene of the Dunblane massacre, in which 17 people were killed. It remains the deadliest massacre of children ever in the United Kingdom. The school was completely refurbished in 1998, and an assault course and basketball court have since been added.

St. Mary's Episcopal Primary School[link]

On its current site, in Smithy Loan, since 1850, St Mary's was established as a church school for poor children under the incumbency of the first rector of Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, Canon Henry Malcolm. Saint Mary's was a two teacher school until the 1970s. It was renovated and extended in 1997. ^[10]

Newton Primary School[link]

Built in 1996, the name of the school comes from Newton Farm, which goes back as far as the Charter of 1655 when Oliver Cromwell confirmed James Pearson of Kippenross as the owner. The streets that encircle the school, Newton Crescent and Ochiltree, named after the Bishop of Dunblane between 1429 and 1447, reflect the rich history in which the school is embedded.

Queen Victoria School[link]

Queen Victoria School is a co-educational boarding school for children of those in the British Armed Forces. It is situated roughly one mile north of the town centre, in a secluded area overlooking the A9.

Queen Victoria School can trace its history back to the turn of the century when the idea was first mooted of a school to commemorate those Scottish soldiers and sailors who fell in South Africa during the Boer Wars. The proposal was warmly received by Queen Victoria herself, and upon her death the following year, it was resolved that the School should serve the dual purpose of commemorating the dead servicemen as well as being a living memorial to the late Empress. To this end money was raised in a national effort which captivated the imagination of the Scottish public. For example, every Serviceman donated a day's pay, and an appeal for contributions from the Scottish workforce received a generous response. Work began in earnest, and Queen Victoria School was officially opened on 28 September 1908 by His Majesty King Edward VII.

The school's chapel is a notable example of Scottish medieval revival architecture, based on the 14th century Dominican (later parish) church of St Monans in Fife.

Dunblane High School[link]

Fed by pupils from the three public primary schools in Dunblane, as well as some of those from Bridge of Allan, Doune, Stirling, and the surrounding areas, this school has a roster of roughly 750 pupils and sixty teachers. The present building is located at the top of Old Doune Road and was completed in November 2007. It spans three storeys and includes some features such as an art rooftop, theatre, fitness suite, dance studio and student lounges. The school also has an all-weather pitch and large playing field. However, the school is notable for its lack of a centralised lending library, which was abolished after the retirement of the school librarian and the room converted as an S6 study area and computer room.

The 2007 building was built on the old school's playing fields, and the previous campus being sold for public development. The building was one of the first Public-Private Partnership projects in the Stirling Council area, and so effectively a prototype, meaning it was built with such drawbacks as inadequate catering facilities, and was the only Stirling school built without a swimming pool.

The school was shaken in July 2010 with the abdication of its head teacher, Dr Dorothy White (previously head of Currie High School in Edinburgh), and the retirement of several other management staff. This was resolved with the transfer of Francis Lennon, the then head teacher of St Modan's High School in Stirling, and several deputes from other schools in the district. Mr Lennon has proven popular with parents and staff and has been accepted by pupils.

The school was recently deemed top state school in Scotland both relating to academic achievement and learning environment^{[citation needed]}, with well over three quarters of its roll progressing to higher education. It has a large extra-curricular base, including the Make A Difference Group (MAD), a highly effective charity committee. The school has also hosted a number of international sports people, including ex-Scotland footballer Callum Davidson and, in tennis, the Murray brothers, Andy and Jamie. It was also the school of 2009's winner of the Miss Scotland crown, Katherine Brown.

Notable developments[link]

Dunblane Hydro Hotel

The town has seen rapid growth in recent years. The old town centre retains a number of historic buildings in addition to the cathedral, including the 17th-century Leighton Library, the oldest private library in Scotland open to the public (on selected days in summer). A well-preserved late medieval town-house nearby (which was probably built as the manse of the Dean of the medieval cathedral) houses a local history museum (open in the summer; free entry). A modern extension has recently been completed within its interior courtyard to provide additional exhibition space and allow disabled access.

The north side of the town is dominated by the Dunblane Hydro Hotel, currently owned by the Hilton Hotel Group and known as the Double Trees. The restaurant is run by the chef, Nick Nairn. The huge Victorian building sits in extensive wooded grounds on the top of a steep and wide grass slope, giving it a very imposing appearance on the crest of the slope. Dating from late Victorian times it has been redeveloped and extended several times but still retains its main building relatively intact. Whilst, like the other Scottish "Hydros" (Crieff and Peebles), it originally housed extensive spa and therapeutic bath facilities, these are all now housed in an independent modern building to its side.

Since the early 1970s the town has grown extensively and is now regarded as a highly-sought-after commuter town due to its excellent road and rail links to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and nearby Stirling. This, coupled with the fact that the local high school consistently turns out some of the best results from a state school in Scotland, means that the town is not only sought-after by commuters but also by families of school-age children. How much of the school's performance is affected by the population bias, which is largely made up of middle class commuters, is subjective. Dunblane is close to the University of Stirling's campus at Bridge of Allan, and is a popular location for academics.

The rapid expansion of the town, expedited by the bypass completion of 1990, has led to a large increase in local car usage, resulting in considerable parking problems. For a town of its size, Dunblane has something of a shortage of local amenities, with, for instance, only two supermarkets. As a result, many people prefer to shop in nearby Stirling.

Over the course of 6 years, a small group of young local boys and their parents have been raising money to build a skatepark in the Laighills. The skatepark was completed on the 23 February 2007 and has already been visited by Death skateboard team and by the Vans UK Tour.

In October 2007 a new church building was completed for Dunblane Christian Fellowship, sited opposite the railway station. Equally important is that Dunblane is at the northern end of both the Network Rail Edinburgh-Glasgow rail electrification project.

The Dunblane Massacre[link]

On 13 March 1996 Thomas Watt Hamilton, aged 43, a former Scout Leader,^[11] ousted by The Scout Association over five years previously,^[12] shot dead 16 children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, in Dunblane Primary School's gymnasium before killing himself. He used his licensed weapons and ammunition.

There is a memorial to the 17 victims in the local cemetery and a cenotaph in the cathedral. The funds raised in the aftermath of the tragedy have been used to build a new community centre for the town. Following the incident, the government passed legislation banning ownership of all handguns (firearms under 60 centimetres in overall length) in Great Britain.

Notable former and current residents[link]

Dunblane has produced a number of sporting stars, including brothers Andy and Jamie Murray, the UK's current number-one male tennis player and the former Wimbledon mixed doubles champion respectively, brothers Steven Caldwell and Gary Caldwell (both Wigan football players), Lynn Kenny, a rising star of the female golf circuit and Hibs Ladies and Scotland Football star Frankie Brown. Former Celtic Footballer and Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell, the former Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini and former NATO Secretary General George Robertson also live in the town.

Miss Scotland 2009/Miss UK 2009 Katharine Brown, Great Britain's Federation Cup Team Captain Judy Murray and Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean are also all natives of the Cathedral City.

1947 Wimbledon Girls Singles and Junior Doubles winner Norma Seacy moved to Dunblane from Edinburgh as a child in 1942.^[13]

The hotel magnate Sir Reo Stakis is buried in Dunblane Cemetery.

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Dunblane on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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• dunblanecentre.co.uk
• dunblaneweb.co.uk
• Cullen report becomes available
• St Mary's Episcopal School Website
• Dunblane Cathedral Arts Guild
• Gazetteer for Dunblane
• Stirling Council Schools

The Dunblane school massacre occurred at Dunblane Primary School in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March 1996. The gunman, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton, entered the school armed with four handguns, shooting and killing sixteen children and one adult before committing suicide. Along with the 1987 Hungerford massacre and the 2010 Cumbria shootings, it remains one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in the history of the United Kingdom.

Public debate subsequent to these events centred on gun-control laws, including public petitions calling for a ban on private ownership of handguns and an official enquiry, the Cullen Report. In response to this debate, the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 and the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 were enacted, which effectively made private ownership of handguns illegal in the United Kingdom.

Timeline of events[link]

On 13 March 1996, unemployed former shopkeeper and former Scout leader^[2] Thomas Hamilton (born Thomas Watt, Jr. 10 May 1952) walked into the Dunblane Primary School armed with two 9 mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolvers, all legally held.^[2][3] He was carrying 743 cartridges, and fired his weapons 109 times.^[4][5] The subsequent police investigation revealed that Hamilton had loaded the magazines for his Browning with an alternating combination of full-metal-jacket and hollow-point ammunition.

After gaining entry to the school, Hamilton made his way to the gymnasium and opened fire on a Primary One class of five- and six-year-olds, killing or wounding all but one person.^[6] Fifteen children died together with their class teacher, Gwen Mayor, who was killed trying to protect the children. Hamilton then left the gymnasium through the emergency exit. In the playground outside he began shooting into a mobile classroom. A teacher in the mobile classroom had previously realised that something was seriously wrong and told the children to hide under the tables. Most of the bullets became embedded in books and equipment, though "one passed through a chair which seconds before had been used by a child."^[1] He also fired at a group of children walking in a corridor, injuring one teacher. Hamilton returned to the gym and with one of his two revolvers fired one shot pointing upwards into his mouth, killing himself instantly. A further eleven children and three adults were rushed to the hospital as soon as the emergency services arrived. One child, Mhairi Isabel MacBeath, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Perpetrator[link]

Possible motives[link]

Hamilton's motives remain unknown, though there were complaints to police regarding his suspicious behaviour towards the young boys who attended the youth clubs he directed. There were suspicions before the massacre that Hamilton's interest in boys was paedophilic with more than one complaint being made regarding him having taken photographs of semi-naked boys without the parents' consent.^[7]

Hamilton had been a Scout leader with the 4th/6th Stirling and 24th Stirlingshire troops of the Scout Association. Several complaints were made about his leadership, notably including two occasions when Scouts were forced to sleep with Hamilton in his van during hill-walking expeditions. Hamilton's Scout Warrant was withdrawn on 13 May 1974, with the County Commissioner stating that he was "suspicious of his moral intentions towards boys".^[8]

He claimed in letters that rumours about him led to the failure of his shop business in 1993, and in the last months of his life he complained again that his attempts to organise a boys' club were subject to persecution by local police and the scout movement. Among those to whom he complained were local Member of Parliament, Michael Forsyth, and Queen Elizabeth. In the 1980s, another MP, George Robertson, who resided in Dunblane, had complained to Forsyth about Hamilton's local boys' club, which his son had attended. On the day following the massacre, Robertson spoke of having argued with Hamilton "in my own home".^[9]

On 19 March 1996, six days after the massacre, the body of Thomas Hamilton was cremated in a private ceremony.^[10]

Political impact[link]

Gun control[link]

The Gun Control Network was founded in the aftermath of the shootings and was supported by some parents of victims at Dunblane and of the Hungerford Massacre.^[11] Bereaved families and their friends also initiated a campaign to ban private gun ownership, named the Snowdrop Petition (because March is snowdrop time in Scotland), which gained 705,000 signatures in support and was supported by a number of newspapers, including the Sunday Mail, a Scottish newspaper whose own petition to ban handguns had raised 428,279 signatures within five weeks of the massacre.

The Cullen Inquiry into the massacre recommended that the government introduce tighter controls on handgun ownership^[12] and consider whether an outright ban would be in the public interest.^[13] The report also recommended changes in school security^[14] and vetting of people working with children under 18.^[15] The Home Affairs Select Committee agreed with the need for restrictions on gun ownership but stated that a handgun ban was not appropriate.

In response to this public debate, the then-current Conservative government introduced a ban on all cartridge ammunition handguns with the exception of .22 calibre single-shot weapons in England, Scotland and Wales. Following the 1997 General Election, the Labour government of Tony Blair introduced the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, banning the remaining .22 cartridge handguns in England, Scotland and Wales, and leaving only muzzle-loading and historic handguns legal, as well as certain sporting handguns (e.g. "Long-Arms") that fall outside the Home Office Definition of a "Handgun" due to their dimensions. The ban does not affect Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands.

Security in schools, particularly primary schools, was improved in response to the Dunblane massacre and two other violent incidents which occurred at around the same time: The murder of Philip Lawrence, a head teacher in London, and the wounding of six children and Lisa Potts, a nursery teacher, at a Wolverhampton nursery school.

Criticism of the judiciary[link]

Prior to the events of 13 March 1996, Hamilton was already well known to Central Scotland Police. There were a number of investigations and reports compiled, the exact number and content cannot be verified as they are still unavailable. However, some police involvement with Hamilton is known.

In 1991, following Hamilton's Loch Lomond summer camp, complaints were made to Central Scotland Police and were investigated by the Child Protection Unit. Hamilton was reported to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration of 10 charges, including assault, obstructing police and contravention of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937. No action was taken.^[16]

Media coverage[link]

Books[link]

Two books – Dunblane: Our Year of Tears by Peter Samson and Alan Crow (Mainstream, 1996) and Dunblane: Never Forget by Mick North (Mainstream, 2000) – both give accounts of the massacre from the perspective of those most directly affected. Another book, Dunblane Unburied by Sandra Uttley (Book Publishing World 2006), whose publication was funded by a shooters' organisation, the Sportsman's Association,^[17] examines Hamilton's relationship with members of Central Scotland Police and presents a disturbing alternative and largely conspiratorial account to the events leading up to the massacre. Uttley alleges a major high-level cover-up and calls for a new Public Inquiry to establish the truth. On 1 March 2006 Creation Books released Predicate: The Dunblane Massacre — Ten Years After by Peter Sotos.^[18]

The professional tennis player Andy Murray discussed his recollections of the Dunblane massacre in his Autobiography. The victims were mostly children who were in a younger age group class than Murray, but he has discussed his recollections of taking cover in a classroom.^[19] Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but, in his autobiography, Hitting Back, he says that he attended a youth group run by Thomas Hamilton, and that his mother gave Hamilton lifts in her car.^[20]

Television[link]

On the Sunday following the shootings the morning service from Dunblane Cathedral, conducted by Rev. Colin MacIntosh, was broadcast live by the BBC. The BBC also had live transmission of the Memorial Service on 9 October 1996, also held at Dunblane Cathedral.

A documentary Dunblane: Remembering our Children (produced by Chameleon Television), which featured many of the parents of the children who had been killed, was broadcast by ITV at the time of the first anniversary.

At the time of the tenth anniversary in March 2006 two documentaries were broadcast. Channel 5 screened Dunblane — a decade on (made by Hanrahan Media) and BBC Scotland showed Remembering Dunblane.

Newspapers[link]

In 2009, the Sunday Express came under some criticism for its coverage of the survivors of the massacre (see Sunday Express Dunblane controversy).

Memorials[link]

A memorial service conducted by James Whyte, a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, was held on 9 October 1996.

Dunblane Primary School gymnasium was demolished on 11 April 1996, and replaced by a small garden: a plaque bears the names of the victims. A memorial garden, dedicated at a ceremony on 14 March 1998, was created at the town's cemetery, where most of those who were killed are buried.^[21] The central feature of the garden is a fountain designed by Maggie Howart, with the names of the children engraved around it. Stained glass windows in memory of the victims were placed in three local churches, St Blane's and the Church of the Holy Family in Dunblane and the nearby Lecropt Kirk as well as at the Dunblane Youth and Community Centre.

At least three flowers have been named after victims of the shootings. Two roses, developed by Cockers of Aberdeen, were named "Gwen Mayor" and "Innocence" in memory of the teacher and the children. A variety of snowdrop, discovered ten years earlier in the garden of a house close to Dunblane Primary School, has been named after Sophie North.

The National Association of Primary Education commissioned a wooden sculpture, "Flame for Dunblane", created by Walter Bailey, which was placed in the National Forest, near the village of Moira, Leicestershire.

The commemoration stone[link]

The Dunblane Commemoration standing stone.

In the nave of Dunblane Cathedral is a Standing stone by the monumental sculptor Richard Kindersley. It was commissioned by the Kirk Session as the Cathedral's commemoration and dedicated at a service on 12 March 2000. It is a Clashach stone some two meters high on a Caithness flagstone base. The quotations on the stone are by E. V. Rieu ("He called a little child to him..."), Richard Henry Stoddard ("...the spirit of a little child"), Bayard Taylor ("But still I dream that somewhere there must be The spirit of a child that waits for me") and W. H. Auden ("We are linked as children in a circle dancing").

Musical tributes[link]

With the consent of Bob Dylan, the musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in memory of the Dunblane school children and their teacher. The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing the chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on 9 December 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.^[22] The English punk rock band U.K. Subs released a song called "Dunblane" on their 1997 album "Quintessentials", with the chorus "After Dunblane how can you hold a gun and say you're innocent?". Australian band The Living End recorded a song called "Monday", which was released on their self-titled album in 1998. The a capella choral piece, "A CHILD'S PRAYER" was composed in Glasgow during March and April 1996, and copyrighted in 1997 by composer James MacMillan (b. 1959) with a dedication to the "dead of the Dunblane tragedy." It is set to the traditional text: "Welcome Jesu, deep in my soul forever stay, joy and love my heart are filling. On this glad Communion day." On 3 August 2000, Bonnie Rideout, a Scottish fiddler from Alexandria, Virginia, along with bagpiper, Paula Glendinning, recorded "Dunblane," on a CD called "Scottish Rant" featuring the City of Washington Pipe Band. "Dunblane" was written by Charlie Glendinning and adapted by Bonnie for two violins and viola. All of the stringed instruments were multi-tracked by Bonnie. Eric Bogle a Scottish/Australian folk singer wrote a song called "One Small Star" as his tribute to the events of the massacre.

See also[link]

Scotland portal

• School massacre
• Massacre related lists
  • List of massacres in the United Kingdom
  • List of school massacres
• Similar shootings in the United Kingdom
  • Hungerford massacre (1987)
  • Monkseaton shootings (1989)
  • Cumbria shootings (2010)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Mick North, Dunblane: never forget, (Mainstream, 2000) ISBN 1-84018-300-4
• Pam Rhodes, Coming through: true stories of hope and courage, (Pan, 2002) ISBN 0-330-48691-8
• Peter Samson and Alan Crow, Dunblane: our year of tears, (Mainstream, 1997) ISBN 1-85158-975-9
• Peter Squires, Gun culture or gun control?: firearms, violence and society, (Routledge, 2000) ISBN 0-415-17086-9
• Sandra Uttley, Dunblane Unburied, (BookPublishingWorld, 2006) ISBN 1-905553-05-6.
• P. Whitbread, "Media Liaison: The Lessons from Dunblane" in Shirley Harrison (ed.), Disasters and the media: managing crisis communications, (Macmillan, 1999) ISBN 0-333-71785-6

External links[link]

• BBC News / Scotland
• The Observer
• The Scotsman
• The final report of The Cullen Inquiry
• The transcript of the 1996 Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane Massacre
• Official text of the Firearms (Amendment) Act, 1997 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database Prohibition of weapons and ammunition and control of small-calibre pistols
• Official text of the Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act, 1997 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database Prohibition of small calibre pistols
• After Dunblane Gun Control in the UK 1996–2001 (PDF)
• BBC Order lifted on Dunblane papers
• Dunblane papers released
• A Timeline of the Massacre
• Dunblane Unburied
• Extensive description of the Dunblane massacre from CourtTV
• Dunblane Massacre – A description on the incident by the Guardian
• Massacre in Dunblane school gym – A report on the incident by the BBC on this day.

Coordinates: 56°11′20″N 3°58′27″W / 56.1890°N 3.9743°W / 56.1890; -3.9743

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please help relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia inclusion policy. (December 2011)

Andy Murray

Andy Murray at the 2011 Japan Open
Country	Great Britain
Residence	London, England
Born	(1987-05-15) 15 May 1987 (age 25) Glasgow, Scotland[1][2]
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	84 kg (190 lb; 13.2 st)
Turned pro	2004
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$20,376,752[3]
Official web site	www.andymurray.com
Singles
Career record	345–114 (75%)
Career titles	22
Highest ranking	No. 2 (17 August 2009)
Current ranking	No. 4 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	F (2010, 2011)
French Open	SF (2011)
Wimbledon	SF (2009, 2010, 2011)
US Open	F (2008)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2008, 2010)
Olympic Games	1R (2008)
Doubles
Career record	45–53
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 51 (17 October 2011)
Current ranking	No. 70 (28 May 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2006)
French Open	2R (2006)
Wimbledon	1R (2005)
US Open	2R (2008)
Other Doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2008)
Last updated on: 28 May 2012.

Andrew "Andy" Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player, ranked No. 4 in the world,^[3] and was ranked No. 2 from 17 to 31 August 2009.^[4] Murray achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has been runner-up in three Grand Slam finals: the 2008 US Open, the 2010 Australian Open and the 2011 Australian Open, losing the first two to Roger Federer and the third to Novak Djokovic. In 2011, Murray became only the seventh player in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.^[5]

Early life[link]

Andy with his brother Jamie (left) at the 2011 Japan Open.

Andy Murray was born to Will and Judy in Glasgow, Scotland.^[1][2] His maternal grandfather, Roy Erskine, was a professional footballer who played reserve team matches for Hibernian and in the Scottish Football League for Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath.^[6][7][8][9] Murray's brother, Jamie, is also a professional tennis player, playing on the doubles circuit.^[10] Following the separation of his parents when he was nine years old, Andy and Jamie lived with their father.^[11] Murray later attended Dunblane High School.^[12][13] Murray is in a five-year relationship with Kim Sears, who is regularly seen attending his matches. The relationship ended briefly in 2009 before they reconciled a short time later in 2010.^[14][15][16]

At 15, Murray was asked to train with Rangers Football Club at their School of Excellence, but declined, opting to focus on his tennis career instead.^[17] Murray's tennis idol is Andre Agassi.^[18]

Murray was born with a bipartite patella, where the kneecap remains as two separate bones instead of fusing together in early childhood.^[19] He was diagnosed at the age of 16 and had to stop playing tennis for six months. Murray is seen frequently to hold his knee due to the pain caused by the condition and has pulled out of events because of it,^[20] but manages it through a number of different approaches.^[21]

Murray attended Dunblane Primary School, and was present during the 1996 Dunblane school massacre.^[22] Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people before turning one of his four guns on himself. Murray took cover in a classroom.^[23] Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but in his autobiography Hitting Back he says that he attended a youth group run by Hamilton, and that his mother gave Hamilton lifts in her car.^[24]

Career[link]

Junior tennis[link]

Murray began playing tennis at age 5.^[25] Leon Smith, Murray's tennis coach from 11 to 17,^[26] said he had never seen a five-year-old like Murray, describing him as "unbelievably competitive". Murray attributes his abilities to the motivation gained from losing to his older brother Jamie. He first beat Jamie in an under-12s final in Solihull, afterwards teasing Jamie until his brother hit him hard enough to lose a nail on his left hand.^[27] At the age of 12, Murray won his age group at the Orange Bowl, a prestigious event for junior players.^[28] He briefly played football before reverting to tennis.^[29] When Murray was 15 years old he decided to move to Barcelona, Spain. There he studied at the Schiller International School and trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy. Murray described this time as "a big sacrifice".^[13] While in Spain, he trained with Emilio Sánchez, formerly the world no. 1 doubles player.^[13]

In July 2003, Murray started out on the Challenger and Futures circuit. In his first tournament, he reached the quarterfinals of the Manchester challenger. In his next tournament, Murray lost on clay in the first round to future world top-tenner Fernando Verdasco. In September, Murray won his first senior title by taking the Glasgow Futures event. He also reached the semifinals of the Edinburgh Futures event.^{[citation needed]} In July 2004 Murray played a Futures event in Nottingham, where he lost to future Grand Slam finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. Murray then went on to win events in Xàtiva and Rome.

In September 2004, he won the Junior US Open by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky, now a top-100 player. He was selected for the Davis Cup match against Austria later that month;^[30] however, he was not selected to play. Later that year, he won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.^[31]

2005[link]

Murray began 2005 ranked 407 in the world.^[32] In March, he became the youngest Briton ever to play in the Davis Cup,^[33] as he helped Britain win the tie with a crucial doubles win. Following the tie, Murray turned professional in April,^[34] as he played his first ATP tournament. Murray was given a wild card to a clay-court tournament in Barcelona, the Open SEAT, where he lost in three sets to Jan Hernych.^[35] Murray then reached the semifinals of the boys' French Open, which was his first junior tournament since the US Open.^[36] In the semi finals Murray lost in straight sets to Marin Čilić,^[37] after he had defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter-finals.^[38]

Given a wild card to Queen's,^[39] Murray progressed past Santiago Ventura in straight sets for his first ATP win.^{[citation needed]} He followed this up with another straight-sets win against Taylor Dent. In the last 16, he played former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, where he lost the match in three sets. After losing the opener on a tie-break, Murray won the second on a tie-break, but the onset of cramp and an ankle injury sealed the match 6–7, 7–6, 5–7 in Johansson's favour.^[40][41] Following his performance at Queen's, Murray received a wild card for Wimbledon.^[42] Ranked 312, he defeated George Bastl and 14th seed Radek Štěpánek in the opening two rounds in straight sets, thereby becoming the first Scot in the open era to reach the third round of the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon.^[43] In the third round, Murray played 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian^[44] and lost 7–6, 6–1, 0–6, 4–6, 1–6.

Following Wimbledon, Murray played in Newport at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, where he lost in the second round. He had a wild card for the US Open, as he was the Junior champion. In the run-up to the tournament, Murray won Challengers on the hard courts of Aptos, which sent him into the top 200, and Binghamton, New York. He also experienced his first Masters event at Cincinnati, where he beat Dent again in straight sets, before losing in three sets to world no. 4 Marat Safin. Murray played Andrei Pavel in the opening round of the US Open. Murray recovered from being down two sets to one to win his first five-set match,^[45] despite being sick on court.^[46] He lost in the second round to Arnaud Clément in another five set contest.^[47] Murray was again selected for the Davis Cup match against Switzerland. He was picked for the opening singles rubbers, losing in straight sets to Stanislas Wawrinka.^[48] Murray then made his first ATP final at the Thailand Open. In the final, he faced world no. 1 Roger Federer, losing in straight sets. On 3 October, Murray achieved a top-100 ranking for the first time.^[49] In his last tournament of the year, an ATP event in Basel Murray faced British no. 1 Tim Henman in the opening round.^[50] Murray defeated him in three sets, before doing the same to Tomáš Berdych. He then suffered a third-round loss to Fernando González. He completed the year ranked 64 and was named the 2005 BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year.^[51]

2006[link]

2006 saw Murray compete on the full circuit for the first time and split with his coach Mark Petchey^[52] and team up with Brad Gilbert.^[53]

Getting his season under way at the Adelaide International, Murray won his opening match of 2006 against Paolo Lorenzi in three sets, before bowing out to Tomáš Berdych. Murray's season then moved to Auckland, where he beat Kenneth Carlsen. Murray then lost three matches in a row including a first round matche at the Australian Open. Murray stopped the run as he beat Mardy Fish in straight sets when the tour came to San Jose, California; going on to win his first ATP title, the SAP Open, defeating world no. 11 Lleyton Hewitt in the final.^[54] The run to the final included his first win over a top-ten player, Andy Roddick,^[55] the world no. 3, to reach his second ATP final, which he won. Murray backed this up with a quarterfinal appearance in Memphis, falling to Söderling. Murray won just three times between the end of February and the middle of June, the run included a first round defeat to Gael Monfils at the French Open, in five sets.^[56] After the French Open, where Murray was injured again, he revealed that his bones hadn't fully grown, causing him to suffer from cramps and back problems.^[57]

At the Nottingham Open, Murray recorded consecutive wins for the first time since Memphis, with wins over Dmitry Tursunov and Max Mirnyi, before bowing out to Andreas Seppi in the quarterfinals. He progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, beating Nicolás Massú, Julien Benneteau, and Roddick, before succumbing to Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis. Murray reached the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, defeating Ricardo Mello, Sam Querrey, and Robert Kendrick, with his first main tour whitewash (also known as a double bagel). He exited in the semifinals to Justin Gimelstob. Murray then won a Davis Cup rubber against Andy Ram, coming back from two sets down, but lost the doubles alongside Jamie Delgado, after being 2 sets to 1 up. The tie was over before Murray could play the deciding rubber. His good form continued as the tour moved to the hard courts of the USA, where he recorded a runner-up position at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic losing to Arnaud Clément in the final. Murray then reached his first Masters Series semifinal in Toronto at the Rogers Cup, beating David Ferrer, Tim Henman, Carlos Moyá, and Jarkko Nieminen along the way, before exiting to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. At the ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati, Murray defeated Henman, before becoming only one of two players, alongside Rafael Nadal, to defeat Roger Federer in 2006. This was followed by a win over Robbie Ginepri and a loss to Andy Roddick. He also reached the fourth round of the US Open losing in four sets to Davydenko, including a whitewash in the final set.^{[citation needed]} In the Davis Cup, Murray won both his singles rubbers, but lost the doubles, as Britain won the tie. As the tour progressed to Asia, he lost to Henman for the first time in straight sets in Bangkok. In the final two Masters events in Madrid and Paris, Murray exited both tournaments at the last-16 stage ending his season, with losses to Novak Djoković and Dominik Hrbatý.

2007[link]

Murray at the US Open with Gilbert

In November Murray split with his coach Brad Gilbert^[58] and added a team of experts along with Miles Maclagan, his main coach.^[59] Ahead of the first event of the season Murray signed a sponsorship deal with Highland Spring worth £1m. It was reportedly the biggest shirt-sponsorship deal in tennis.^[60] The season started well for Murray as he reached the final of the Qatar Open. He defeated Filippo Volandri, Christophe Rochus, Max Mirnyi and Nikolay Davydenko, before falling to Ivan Ljubičić in straight sets. Murray reached the fourth round of the Australian Open.^[61] After defeating Alberto Martín for the loss of one game, then beating Fernando Verdasco and Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets, in the round of 16 Murray lost a five-set match against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6.^[62] He then successfully defended his San Jose title, defeating Kevin Kim, Kristian Pless, Hyung-Taik Lee, Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlović to retain the tournament.^[63]

Murray then made the semi-finals of his next three tournaments. Making the semis in Memphis, he defeated Frank Dancevic, Pless and Stefan Koubek before a reverse to Roddick. In Indian Wells, Murray won against Wesley Moodie, Nicolas Mahut, Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Haas before falling to Novak Djoković. At Miami, Murray was victorious against Paul Goldstein, Robert Kendrick, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Roddick, before going down to Djokovic for the second tournament running.

Before the clay season Murray defeated Raemon Sluiter in the Davis Cup to help Britain win the tie. In his first tournament in Rome, Murray lost in the first round to Gilles Simon in three sets. In Hamburg, Murray played Volandri first up. In the first set, Murray was 5–1 when he hit a forehand from the back of the court and snapped the tendons in his wrist.^[64]

Murray missed a large part of the season including the French Open and Wimbledon.^[65] He returned at the Rogers Cup in Canada. In his first match he defeated Robby Ginepri in straight sets^[66] before bowing out to Fabio Fognini. At the Cincinnati Masters Murray drew Marcos Baghdatis in the first round and won only three games. At the US Open Murray beat Pablo Cuevas in straight sets before edging out Jonas Björkman in a five-setter. Murray lost in the third round to Lee in four sets.

Murray played in Great Britain's winning Davis Cup tie against Croatia, beating Marin Čilić in five sets. Murray hit form, as he then reached the final at the Metz International after knocking out Janko Tipsarević, Michaël Llodra, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Guillermo Cañas. He lost to Tommy Robredo in the final, despite winning the first set 6–0. Murray had early exits in Moscow and Madrid; falling to Tipsarević after winning against Evgeny Korolev in Moscow and to Nadal after defeating Radek Štěpánek and Chela in Madrid.

Murray improved as he won his third ATP title at the St. Petersburg Open, beating Mirnyi, Lukáš Dlouhý, Dmitry Tursunov, Mikhail Youzhny and Fernando Verdasco to claim the title. In his final tournament in Paris, Murray went out in the quarter-finals. He beat Jarkko Nieminen and Fabrice Santoro before falling to Richard Gasquet. With that result he finished at No. 11 in the world, just missing out on a place at the Masters Cup.

2008[link]

Murray on his way to becoming a finalist at the US Open

Murray re-entered the top-ten rankings early in 2008, winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with wins over Olivier Rochus, Rainer Schüttler, Thomas Johansson, Nikolay Davydenko and Stanislas Wawrinka for the title. He was the ninth seed at the Australian Open but was defeated by eventual runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round.^[67]

Murray took his second title of the year at the Open 13 after beating Jesse Huta Galung, Wawrinka, Nicolas Mahut, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Marin Čilić. But Murray exited to Robin Haase in straight sets in Rotterdam. In Dubai Murray defeated Roger Federer in three sets before doing the same to Fernando Verdasco and falling short against Davydenko. At Indian Wells Murray defeated Jürgen Melzer and Ivo Karlović in three sets and crashed out to Tommy Haas, before a first-match exit to Mario Ančić in Miami.

On the clay courts in Monte Carlo Murray defeated Feliciano López and Filippo Volandri before winning just four games against Novak Djoković. Ančić then handed Murray another first-match defeat in Barcelona. In Rome Murray first played Juan Martín del Potro in an ill-tempered three-set match. Murray won his first match in Rome^[68] when Del Potro retired with an injury. Murray was warned for bad language and there was disagreement between the two players where Murray claimed that Del Potro insulted his mother, who was in the crowd, and deliberately aimed a ball at his head.^[69][70] In the next round Murray lost in straight sets to Wawrinka. In his last tournament before the French Open Murray participated in Hamburg. He defeated Dmitry Tursunov and Gilles Simon before a defeat against Rafael Nadal. At Roland Garros he overcame local boy Jonathan Eysseric in five sets and clay-courter José Acasuso, where he lost just four games. He ended the tournament after a defeat by Nicolás Almagro in four sets in the third round.

At Queen's Murray played just two games of his opening match before Sébastien Grosjean withdrew. Against Ernests Gulbis Murray slipped on the damp grass and caused a sprain to his thumb.^[71] He won the match in 3 but withdrew ahead of his quarter-final against Andy Roddick.^[72] Any thought that he would pull out of Wimbledon was unfounded as he made the start line to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. Murray defeated Fabrice Santoro, Xavier Malisse in three sets and Tommy Haas in 4, before the one of the matches of the tournament. Murray found himself two sets down to Richard Gasquet who was serving for the match. Murray broke and took the set to a tie-break, before the shot of the tournament on set point. Murray hit a backhand winner from way off the court, when he was almost in the stands.^[73] Murray progressed through the fourth set before an early break in the 5th. Gasquet failed to break back in the next game and made a complaint about the light. But Murray completed a 5–7, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2, 6–4 win.^[74] In the next round Murray was defeated by world No. 2 Nadal in straight sets.

In his first tournament after Wimbledon, the Rogers Cup, Murray defeated Johansson, Wawrinka and Djokovic before losing to Nadal in the semi-finals. The Nadal loss was Murray's last defeat in ATP events for three months. In Cincinnati Murray went one better than in Canada as he reached his first ATP Masters Series final. He beat Sam Querrey, Tursunov, Carlos Moyá and Karlovic to make the final. Murray showed no signs of nerves as on debut he won his first Masters Shield, defeating Djokovic in two tie-breakers. At the Olympics, which is ITF organised, Murray was dumped out in round one by Yen-Hsun Lu,^[75] citing a lack of professionalism on his part.^[76]

Murray debuted at the season ending Masters Cup in 2008

Murray then went to New York to participate in the US Open. He became the first Briton since Greg Rusedski in 1997 to reach a Grand Slam final. Murray defeated Sergio Roitman, Michaël Llodra and won against Melzer after being two sets down.^[77] He then beat Wawrinka to set up a match with Del Potro;^[78] he overcame Nadal in the semi-finals after a four-set battle, beating him for the first time, in a rain-affected match that lasted for two days.^[79] In the final he lost in straight sets to Roger Federer.^[80][81]

Murray beat Alexander Peya and Jürgen Melzer in the Davis Cup tie against Austria, but it was in vain as Great Britain lost the deciding rubber. He returned to ATP tournaments in Madrid, where he won his second consecutive Masters shield. He defeated Simone Bolelli, Čilić (for the first time in 2008) and Gaël Monfils before avenging his US Open final loss against Federer in three sets, and taking the title against Simon. Murray then made it three ATP tournament wins on the bounce with his 5th title of the year at the St Petersburg Open, where Murray beat Viktor Troicki, Gulbis, Janko Tipsarević, without dropping a set, before thrashing Verdasco for the loss of just three games in the semi-final and Andrey Golubev for the loss of two games in the final. He thus became the first British player to win two Master tournaments and the first Briton to win five tournaments in a year.^[82] Heading into the final Masters event of the season, Murray was on course for a record third consecutive Masters shield.^[83] Murray defeated Sam Querrey and Verdasco, before David Nalbandian ended Murray's run, of 14 straight wins, when he beat him in straight sets. This was Murray's first defeat on the ATP tour in three months, since Nadal beat him in Canada.^[84]

Now at No. 4 in the world, Murray qualified for the first time for the Masters Cup. He beat Roddick in three sets, before the American withdrew from the competition. This was followed by a win over Simon to qualify for the semi-finals.^[85] In his final group match against Federer, Murray defeated him in three sets.^[86][87] In the semi-final Murray faced Davydenko, but after leaving it all on the court against Federer, Murray succumbed to the Russian in straight sets.^[88]

Murray ended 2008 ranked fourth in the world.

2009[link]

Murray made the quarter-finals of the 2009 French Open

Murray began 2009 by beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to win the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He followed this with a successful defence of his title at the Qatar Open in Doha, defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets to win the final.^[89] At the Australian Open, Murray made it to the fourth round, losing to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round.^[90] After the loss to Verdasco, Murray was delayed from going home, as he was found to be suffering from a virus.

Murray got back to winnning ways quickly though as he won his eleventh career title in Rotterdam. In the final, Murray faced the world no. 1, Nadal, defeating him in the third set.^[91] However, an injury, sustained in the semifinal forced his withdrawal from the Marseille Open, which he had won in 2008.^[92] Returning from injury, Murray went to Dubai and withdrew before the quarterfinals with a re-occurrence of the virus that had affected him at the Australian Open.^[93] The virus caused Murray to miss a Davis Cup tie in Glasgow. Returning from the virus, Murray made it to the final at Indian Wells. Murray defeated Federer in the semifinal but lost the final against Nadal, winning just three games in windy conditions.^[94] However a week later and Murray made another final in Miami and defeated Novak Djokovic for another masters title.

Murray got his clay season underway at the Monte Carlo Masters. With a series of impressive performances, Murray made it to the semifinals losing in straight sets to Nadal. Murray then moved to the Rome Masters, where he lost in the second round, after a first-round bye, to Juan Mónaco in three sets. Despite an early exit of the Rome Masters Murray achieved the highest ever ranking of a British male in the open era when he became world no. 3 on 11 May 2009.^[95] Murray celebrated this achievement by trying to defend his Madrid Masters title, which had switched surfaces from hard to clay. He reached the quarterfinals, after beating Simone Bolelli and Robredo in straight sets, before losing to Del Potro. Murray reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 French Open, but was defeated by Fernando González in four sets.

Murray won at Queen's, without dropping a set, becoming the first British winner of the tournament since 1938. In the final Murray defeated American James Blake. This was Murray's first tournament win on grass and his first ATP title in Britain.^[96] Murray was initially seeded third at Wimbledon, but after the withdrawal of defending champion Nadal, Murray became the second-highest seeded player, after Federer and highest-ever seeded Briton in a senior event at Wimbledon.^[97] Rain meant that Murray's fourth-round match against Stanislas Wawrinka was the first match to be played entirely under Wimbledon's retractable roof, also enabling it to be the latest finishing match ever at Wimbledon. Murray's win stretched to five sets and 3 hours 56 minutes, resulting in a 22:38 finish that was approximately an hour after play is usually concluded.^[98] However Murray lost a tight semifinal to Andy Roddick, achieving his best result in the tournament to date.

Murray returned to action in Montreal, defeating del Potro in three sets to take the title.^[99] After this victory, he overtook Nadal in the rankings and held the number two position until the start of the US Open.^[100] Murray followed the Masters win playing at the Cincinnati Masters, where Federer beat him for the first time since the US Open in straight sets. At the US Open, Murray was hampered by a wrist injury and suffered a straight-sets loss to Čilić.^[101] Murray competed in the Davis Cup tie in Liverpool against Poland. Murray won both his singles matches, but lost the doubles as Britain lost the tie and was relegated to the next group. During the weekend, Murray damaged his wrist further and was forced to miss six weeks of the tour, and with it dropped to no. 4 in the world.^[102]

Murray returned to the tour in Valencia, where he won his sixth and final tournament of the year.^[103] In the final Masters event of 2009, in Paris, Murray beat James Blake in three sets, before losing to Štěpánek in three. At the World Tour Finals in London, Murray started by beating del Potro in three sets, before losing a three-set match to Federer. He won his next match against Verdasco, but because Murray, Federer, and del Potro all ended up on equal wins and sets, it came down to game percentage, and Murray lost out by a game,^[104] bringing an end to his 2009 season.

2010[link]

Murray reached his second Grand Slam Final in Australia.

Murray and Laura Robson represented Britain at the Hopman Cup. The pair progressed to the final, where they were beaten by Spain.^[105] At the Australian Open Murray progressed through his opening few matches in straight sets to set up a quarterfinal clash with the world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. Murray led by two sets and a break before the Spaniard had to retire with a torn quadriceps. Murray became the first British man to reach more than one Grand Slam final in 72 years when he defeated Marin Cilic.^[106] Murray lost the final to world no. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets.^[107]

At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray reached the quarterfinals. He was defeated by Robin Söderling in straight sets. Murray next played at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, but lost his first match of the tournament, afterwards he said that his mind hadn't been fully on tennis.^[108][109]

Switching attention to clay, Murray requested a wild card for Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. He suffered another first match loss, this time to Philipp Kohlschreiber. He also entered the doubles competition with Ross Hutchins and defeated world no. 10 doubles team Cermak and Meritmak, before losing to the Bryan Brothers on a champions tie-breaker. Murray then went on to reach the third round in the Rome Masters 1000, where he lost to David Ferrer in straight sets. At the Madrid Masters, he reached the quarterfinals, where he subsequently lost to Ferrer again in a closely fought battle. Murray completed his preparations for the second Grand Slam of the year by defeating Fish in an exhibition match 11–9 in a champions tie-breaker.^[110] At the French Open, Murray was drawn in the first round against Richard Gasquet. Murray battled back from two sets down to win in the final set.^[111] In the third round, Murray lost a set 0–6 against Marcos Baghdatis, something he had not done since the French Open quarterfinals the previous year.^[112] Murray lost in straight sets to Tomáš Berdych in the fourth round and credited his opponent for outplaying him.^[113][114]

Murray's next appearance was at the grass courts of London. Attempting to become the first Briton since Gordon Lowe in 1914 to defend the title successfully,^[115] Murray progressed to the third round, where he faced Mardy Fish. At 3–3 in the final set with momentum going Murray's way (Murray had just come back from 3–0 down), the match was called off for bad light, leaving Murray fuming at the umpire and tournament referee. Murray was quoted as saying he (Fish) only came off because it was 3–3.^[116] Coming back the next day, Murray was edged out by the eventual finalist in a tie-breaker for his second defeat to him in the year.^[117] In Murray's second-round match at Wimbledon, he defeated Jarkko Nieminen,^[118] a match which was viewed by Queen Elizabeth II during her first visit to the Championships since 1977.^[119] Murray lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets.^[120]

On 27 July 2010, Andy Murray and his coach Maclagan split, and Murray replaced him with Àlex Corretja just before he competed in the Farmers Classic as a wild-card replacement for Novak Djoković.^[121] Murray stated that their views on his game differed wildly and that he didn't want to over-complicate things.^[122] He thanked Maclagan for his 'positive contribution' and said that they have a great relationship. Jonathan Overend, the BBC's tennis journalist, reported that the split happened over Maclagan's annoyance at what he saw as Corretja's increasing involvement in Murray's coaching. But Murray had no intention of sacking him,^[123] despite the press report that Murray was ready to replace him with Andre Agassi's former coach Darren Cahill.^[124]

Starting the US hard-court season with the 2010 Farmers Classic, Murray reached the final. During Murray's semifinal win against Feliciano López,^[125] whilst commentating for ESPN, Cahill appeared to rule himself out of becoming Murray's next coach.^[126] In Murray's first final since the Australian Open, he lost against Sam Querrey in three sets This was his first loss to Querrey in five career meetings and the first time he had lost a set against the American.^[127] In Canada, Murray successfully defended a Masters title for the first time. He became the first player since Andre Agassi in 1995 to defend the Canadian Masters. Murray also became the fifth player to defeat Rafael Nadal (the fifth occasion that Murray has beaten the player ranked world no. 1) and Roger Federer (Murray had achieved this previously at the unofficial 2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition) in the same tournament. Murray defeated Nadal and Federer in straight sets. This ended his title drought dating back to November 2009.^[128][129] At the Cincinnati Masters, Murray complained about the speed of the court after his first match.^[130] Before his quarterfinal match with Fish, Murray complained that the organisers refused to put the match on later in the day. Murray had played his two previous matches at midday, and all his matches in Toronto between 12 and 3 pm.^[131]

The reason given for turning down Murray's request was that Fish was playing doubles. Murray had no option but to play at midday again, with temperatures reaching 33°C in the shade. Murray won the first set on a tie-breaker, but after going inside for a toilet break, he began to feel ill. The doctor was called on court to actively cool Murray down. Murray admitted after the match that he had considered retiring. He lost the second set, but forced a final-set tie-breaker, before Fish won.^[132] At the US Open, Murray played Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. Murray bowed out of the tournament, losing in four sets.^[133] However, questions about Murray's conditioning arose, as he called the trainer out twice during the match.^[134]

His next event was the China Open in Beijing, where Murray reached the quarterfinals, losing to Ivan Ljubičić.^[135] At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Murray reached his seventh Masters Series final.^[136] There, he faced Roger Federer and dismissed the Swiss player in straight sets.^[137] He did not drop a single set throughout the event, taking only his second title of the year and his sixth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. Murray returned to Spain to defend his title at the Valencia Open 500 but lost in the second round to Juan Mónaco.^[138] However in doubles, Murray partnered his brother Jamie Murray to the final, where they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi. The victory was Murray's first doubles title and the second time he had reached a final with his brother.^[139][140] Murray reached the quarter finals at the BNP Paribas Masters losing to Gaël Monfils in three sets.^[141] Combined with his exit and Söderling's taking the title, Murray found himself pushed down a spot in the rankings, down to no. 5 from no. 4.^[142] At the Tour finals in London, Murray opened with a straight-sets victory over Söderling.^[143] In Murray's second round-robin match, he faced Federer, whom he had beaten in their last two meetings. On this occasion, however, Murray suffered a straight-sets defeat.^[144] Murray then faced David Ferrer in his last group match. Murray lost the first two games, but came back to take six in a row to win the set 6–2 and to qualify for the semifinals. Murray closed out the match with a 6–2 second set to finish the group stage with a win,^[145] before facing Nadal in the semifinal. They battled for over three hours, before Murray fell to the Spaniard in a final-set tie-breaker, bringing an end to his season.^[146]

2011[link]

Murray started 2011 by playing alongside fellow Brit Laura Robson in the 2011 Hopman Cup. They did not make it past the round-robin stage, losing all three ties against Italy, France, and the USA. Despite losing all three ties, Murray won all of his singles matches. He beat Potito Starace, Nicolas Mahut, and John Isner . Murray, along with other stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djoković, participated in the Rally for Relief event to help raise money for the flood victims in Queensland.^[147]

Murray reached his second Australian Open final.

Seeded fifth in the Australian Open, Murray met former champion Novak Djoković in the final and was defeated in straight sets. Murray made a quick return, participating at Rotterdam. He was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis in the first round.^[148] Murray reached the semifinals of the doubles tournament with his brother Jamie. Murray lost in the first round at the Masters Series events at Indian Wells and Miami. Murray lost to American qualifiers Donald Young and Alex Bogomolov Jr. respectivly. After Miami, Murray split with Àlex Corretja, who was his coach at the time.^[149]

Murray made a return to form at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he faced Nadal in the semifinals. Murray sustained an elbow injury before the match but put up a battle losing to the Spaniard after nearly three hours.^[150] Murray subsequently withdrew from the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell due to the injury.^[151] Murray played at the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he was then beaten in the third round by Thomaz Bellucci.^[152] After Madrid, Murray proceeded to the Rome Masters where he lost in the semifinals against Novak Djoković.^{[citation needed]} At the 2011 French Open, Murray twisted his ankle during his third round match with Berrer and looked like he may have to withdraw but limped round to with the match.^[153] However Murray carried on and battled back from two sets down against Troicki in the fourth round. A ball boy inadvertantly interfered with play at a start of a game and eventually found Murray found himself broken and 5–2 down before recovering to win the set.^[154] Murray lost in the his first semifinal at Roland Garros, against Rafael Nadal.^[155]

Murray defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, to win his second Queen's Club title..^[156] At Wimbledon, Murray lost in the semifinal to Nadal, despite taking the first set.^[157] At the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Luxembourg, Murray lead the British team to victory.^[158]

Murray was the two-time defending 2011 Rogers Cup champion, but lost his first match in the second round, to South African Kevin Anderson.^[159] However, the following week, he won the 2011 Western & Southern Open, beating Novak Djoković, 6–4, 3–0 (ret), after Djokovic retired due to injury.^{[citation needed]} At the 2011 US Open, Murray defeated Somdev Devvarman in straights sets in the first round, and battled from two sets down to win a five set encounter 6–7, 2–6, 6–2, 6–0, 6–4 with Robin Haase. He then defeated Feliciano López and Donald Young in straight sets in the third and fourth round. He then fought out a four set encounter with American giant John Isner 7–5, 6–4, 3–6, 7–6. He reached the semi-finals for a third time in a row this year, but again lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets 4–6, 2–6, 6–3, 2–6.

His next tournament was the Thailand Open, Murray went on to win the tournament defeating Donald Young 6–2, 6–0 in 48 minutes. He only dropped one set all tournament. The following week he won his third title in four tournaments by winning the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. His opponent in the final was Rafael Nadal who he beat for the first time in the year by winning in three sets 3–6, 6–2, 6–0. Murray dropped only four points in the final set. He then completed his domination in Tokyo by winning the doubles partnering brother Jamie Murray defeating František Čermák and Filip Polášek 6–1, 6–4. This is his second doubles title and with this victory, he became the first person in the 2011 season to capture both singles and doubles titles at the same tournament. Murray then successfully defended his Shanghai Masters crown with a straight sets victory over David Ferrer in the final 7–5, 6–4.

The defence of the title meant he overtook Roger Federer in ranking points and moved up to no. 3 in the world. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Murray lost to David Ferrer in straight sets, 4–6, 5–7, and withdraw from the tournament after the loss with a groin pull. With the early loss and withdrawal from the tournament and with Roger Federer winning the title, Murray dropped one position back in the rankings to end the year as no. 4 in the world behind Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.

2012[link]

Murray started the season once again ranked world no. 4 and appointed former world no. 1 Ivan Lendl as his new full-time coach.^[160] He began the season by playing in the 2012 Brisbane International for the first time as the top seed in singles. He also played doubles with Marcos Baghdatis.^[161] He overcame a slow start in his first two matches to win his 22nd title by beating Alexandr Dolgopolov, 6–1, 6–3 in the final.^[162] In doubles, he lost in the quarterfinals against second seeds Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in a tight match which ended 6–3, 3–6, 13–15.^{[citation needed]}

In the week prior to the Australian Open, Murray appeared in a one-off exhibition match against David Nalbandian at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, home of the unofficial AAMI Classic. Murray emerged victorious, defeating Nalbandian, 6–3, 7–6, after coming from a break down in the second set.^[163] At the Australian Open, Murray started off with a 4-set win against Ryan Harrison. In the second round, he beat Édouard Roger-Vasselin in three sets, and in the third round, he beat Michaël Llodra, also in three sets, to proceed to the last sixteen.^[164] Murray went on to beat Mikhail Kukushkin in the fourth round, 6–1, 6–1, 1–0 (ret), after his opponent retired due to the searing heat in Melbourne. Murray also beat Kei Nishikori in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Murray played a 4 hour and 50 minute semifinal match against Novak Djokovic, but was defeated, 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 1–6, 5–7.^[165]

At the Dubai Open, Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, 6–2, 7–5,^[166] but lost in the final to Roger Federer, 5–7, 4–6.^[167] At the 2012 BNP Paribas Open, Murray lost his opening second-round match to Spanish qualifier Guillermo García López, in straight sets, 4–6, 2–6. This was the second successive time that Murray had lost his opening match at the event.^[168] Following Indian Wells, Murray made the finals of the Miami Masters, losing to Novak Djokovic, 1–6, 6–7.^[169]

In Rome, he was eliminated in the third round by Richard Gasquet, 7–6(1), 3–6, 2–6.

Major tournaments[link]

Grand Slam finals[link]

Singles: 3 (0–3)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2008	US Open	Hard	Roger Federer	2–6, 5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	2010	Australian Open	Hard	Roger Federer	3–6, 4–6, 6–7(11–13)
Runner-up	2011	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Novak Djokovic	4–6, 2–6, 3–6

Career statistics[link]

Key

Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series). This table is current through to the 2012 Australian Open.

Playing style and equipment[link]

Murray is best described as a defensive counter-puncher;^[170] professional tennis coach Paul Annacone stated that Murray "may be the best counterpuncher on tour today."^[171] His strengths include groundstrokes with low error rate, the ability to anticipate and react, and his transition from defence to offence with speed, which enables him to hit winners from defensive positions. His playing style has been likened to that of Miloslav Mečíř.^[172] Murray's tactics usually involve passive exchanges from the baseline, usually waiting for an unforced error. However, Murray has been criticised for his generally passive style of play and lack of offensive weapons, prompting some to call him a pusher.^[173] He is capable of injecting sudden pace to his groundstrokes to surprise his opponents who are used to the slow rally. Murray is also one of the top returners in the game, often able to block back fast serves with his excellent reach and uncanny ability to anticipate. For this reason, Murray is rarely aced.^[174] Murray is also known for being one of the most intelligent tacticians on the court, often constructing points.^[175][176] Murray is most proficient on a fast surface (such as hard courts),^[177] although he has worked hard since 2008 on improving his clay court game.^[178]

Early in his career, most of his main tour wins came on hard courts. However, he claimed to prefer clay courts,^[179][180] because of his training in Barcelona as a junior player.^[181]

Murray is sponsored by Head and plays the YOUTEK Radical Pro with a Prestige grommet. He wore Fred Perry apparel until early 2010, when he signed a five-year £10m contract with adidas. This includes wearing their range of tennis shoe.^[182]

Image[link]

National identity[link]

Murray identifies himself as Scottish and British.^[183][184] Prior to Wimbledon 2006, Murray caused some public debate when he was quoted as saying he would "support anyone but England" at the 2006 World Cup.^[185] He received large amounts of hate mail on his website as a result.^[186] It was also reported that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt on the day of England's World Cup match with the South American team.^[185]

Murray explained that his comments were said in jest during a light-hearted interview with sports columnist Maurice Russo,^[187] who asked him if he would be supporting Scotland in the World Cup, in the knowledge that Scotland had failed to qualify for the tournament.^[188] Sports journalist Des Kelly wrote that another tabloid had later "lifted a couple of [the comments] into a 'story' that took on a life of its own and from there the truth was lost" and that he despaired over the "nonsensical criticism".^[189]

Murray protested that he is "not anti-English and never was"^[183] and he expressed disappointment over England's subsequent elimination by Portugal.^[190] In an interview with Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live, Tim Henman confirmed that the remarks had been made in jest and were only in response to Murray being teased by Kelly^[187] and Henman.^[191] He also stated that the rumour that Murray had worn a Paraguay shirt was untrue.^[191]

In an interview with Gabby Logan for the BBC's Inside Sport programme, Murray said that he was both Scottish and British and was comfortable and happy with his British identity.^[192] He said he saw no conflict between the two and was equally proud of them. He has also pointed out that he is quarter English with some of his family originating from Newcastle, and that his girlfriend, Kim Sears, is English.^[193]

Other incidents[link]

In 2006 Murray caused an uproar during a match between him and Kenneth Carlsen. Murray was first given a warning for racket abuse then he stated that he and Carlsen had "played like women" during the first set.^[194] Murray was heavily booed for the remainder of the interview, but explained later that the comment was in jest to what Svetlana Kuznetsova had said at the Hopman Cup.^[195] A few months later Murray was fined $2,500 for swearing at the umpire during a Davis Cup doubles rubber with Serbia and Montenegro. Murray refused to shake hands with the umpire at the end of the match.^[196]

In 2007 Murray suggested that tennis had a match fixing problem, stating that everyone knows it goes on,^[197] in the wake of the investigation surrounding Nikolay Davydenko.^[198] Both Davydenko and Rafael Nadal questioned his comments, but Murray responded that his words had been taken out of context.^[199]

In 2008, Murray withdrew from a Davis Cup tie, leading his brother to question his heart for the competition.^{[200][dead link]}

See also[link]

See more Wikipedia articles related to this topic.

References[link]