And so began the journey to three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals and the world No1 spot, among other achievements.
It was there he stumbled across padel tennis, which he and friends made at the Sanchez-Casal Academy would play at the weekends.
Two decades on, he has just stepped off a padel court with brother Jamie at Westfield shopping centre in west London. The younger of the Murray brothers makes the point while laughing: "I'm definitely better than Jamie- and he's played quite a lot more than me." Padel is as a mix of squash and tennis, played out on a reduced-size court with glass walls around it which players can play off.
In Spain, there are a reported six million participants. In Britain, it is a sport on the rise, with new courts popping up in London and around the UK, and one Murray is investing into, via Game4Padel.
This story is from the November 08, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the November 08, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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