SO THERE IS LIFE BEYOND TENNIS!

A revealing documentary shows a softer side to Andy Murray as he battles to revive his career after health problems

- Jane Vorster

FANS are used to seeing him making mincemeat of his opponents. Driven and determined, that’s Andy Murray – and his often dour on­court demeanour has earned him his fair share of detractors too.

But an astonishing new documentary shows a completely different side to the British tennis ace.

Away from the courts he’s as chilled as can be, dancing to the kids’ song Baby Shark, building a snowman in the gar­ den, and sitting patiently while one of his young daughters combs his hair.

However, he’s the first to admit that it hasn’t always been this way.

His No 1 priority was winning. He loved his family dearly but tennis came first. But when he developed a debilitat­ ing health problem he was forced to re­ think his priorities.

The tennis world was stunned when, in a tearful interview before the Australian Open earlier this year, Andy (now 32) announced the 2019 tournament would probably be his last.

A chronic hip problem that left him in agony every time he hit a ball was mak­ ing him seriously contemplate retirement, he said.

But now 11 months later the former world No 1 is back doing what he does best: winning.

How did he do it?

The documentary, Andy Murray: Resurfacing, shot for streaming service Amazon Prime, reveals the answer. Pieced together from more than 400 hours of footage from the past two years, it shows how the athlete managed to pick himself up and get his career back on track.

Andy underwent his first round of surgery in January 2017 but it failed to correct the problem and with each match he played the pain got worse.

“In December of last year, I was pretty much done,” he says.

“I didn’t want to play anymore. I wasn’t enjoying training, I wasn’t enjoying competing. Just walking around the house was painful.”