Murray Musings

Scott is back editing these episodes as you can probably tell from the title here. Our hosts were back together post-US Open to talk about it and the upcoming Davis Cup that our man Andy will be playing in... hopefully... maybe... if he's picked to play... please dear god let him be picked to play...

Join us.

The final major of the year is upon us! Join Peter, Scott and Claire as they chew the fat over the upcoming US Open and how they think their hero - a certain Sir Andy Murray - will fare over the course of the next fortnight... will we see Andy make it through to the second week of a slam for the first time since 2017??

WE THINK SO!

Welcome back to MMHQ! Ahead of the US Open, Claire was thrilled to sit down with friend of the pod - and coach of one of our faves Liam Broady - Dave Sammel to look back on his three stand-out matches from the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, and chat about the work that goes into preparing your player for a major competition. As ever, it was an absolute joy to chat to Dave, and we hope you enjoy his insights!

PS - if you're still listening out for our Andy intro... don't - Elder Millennial Claire (that's what we're calling her now) has figured out how to do it but her laptop won't let her download the programme. We will get Andy back eventually, we promise! For now, enjoy the tranquil sound of silence.

*crickets chirp, birds tweet* etc.

The whole gang is back together as they gather round the firepit to discuss the weeks that were Wimbledon - less of an analytical roundup and more of Claire babbling on about her visit to the sacred grounds. It's been over a week since Vondrousova and Alcaraz lifted their maiden Wimbledon titles (spoiler alert) so please forgive our typical Murray Musings timings on this one!

Join Claire and Peter as they delve into the Wimbledon draw and look at Andy's chances on the hallowed turf of Centre Court - 10 years since he won his first Wimbledon title, and became the first British man in 77 years to do so. Welcome to Murray Musing, episode 77.

OK, so Claire did promise that she would either learn how to add Andy back in, or that Scott would be back to start doing it again... neither has happened *YET* but it will, it will!

In the meantime, join Claire and Peter as they sit down and chat about the week that was in glorious Sunny Surbiton! Andy Murray is a grass court champion once again, and we couldn't be happier! Prepare for a laugh as we try to remember exactly how each match went, and listen in as Claire compares Ivan Lendl to a grumpy pet cat...

While Claire was nursing the hangover from hell, Scott and Peter got together to chat all things Andy Murray kicking off his grass court season in the Surbiton Trophy challenger event. Are you as excited as us for glorious glorious grass?! Let's go!

Claire and Peter get together with a lil glass of a wine and lot of chaotic chat over the French Open draw, which they hadn't looked until they started recording... We promise Scott will be back eventually, when he gets out of Podcast Prison. And we promise to have Andy back on our outro soon as well!

ANDY MURRAY WON A TITLE!!! ANDY MURRAY WON A TITLE!!!

Claire and Peter are besides themselves with joy as they celebrate Andy winning his first title since November 2019 - 1295 days ago - and his first on clay since 2016, beating top seed (and world number 17, and Australian Open semi-finalist!!) Tommy Paul in the Aix-en-Provence Challenger 175 event.

Grab a glass of whatever tickles your pickle and join us as we talk about the week that was...

So this episode is now *slightly* out of date because we chatted about Andy's chances in Monte Carlo (we don't know her), he played... and then the tournament just ended so... what happened?! Who knows. Anyway - is it grass season yet? On a brighter note (!!!) listen in as we delve a bit further into Peter's experiences in Indian Wells, including ANOTHER interaction with our main man! (And yes, we do talk about Andy's metal hip given we've never covered that topic before)

Peter and a very sleepy Claire were thrilled to sit down with one of our favourite tennis commentators, and former coach of Andy, Mark Petchey for the second time. Join us as we delve into Indian Wells, Miami, Andy's chances in a potential R3 meeting with current ATP world number 1 Carlos Alcaraz, and our plans for an Andy Murray / Taylor Swift musical movie career montage!

Recorded before Indian Wells began, this episode going out and our man STILL BEING IN THE TOURNAMENT AFTER 2 ROUNDS is a a pleasant surprise... Our hosts try to unpack Andy's temperamental history with Indian Wells and why the 2023 edition of the event could be a turning point.

Pull up a chair and settle in with us on this cold, damp and dreary Scottish day.

Steven Cree, actor from Outlander and A Discovery of Witches, shares his love of Andy Murray with Peter and Claire. In this interview, he details his fandom of Andy going back to his junior days all the way up until now! 

Join us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY ANDY MURRAY IS INTO THE 3RD ROUND OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN WITH TWO MATCHES OF OTHERWORDLY QUALITY DAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

Join Peter and Scott as they speak with Claire who is LIVE IN AUSTRALIA AND ABOUT TO GO AND WATCH ANDY'S 3RD ROUND MATCH!

Last week, our three hosts got the chance to welcome Tom Humberstone to Murray Musings HQ! Tom is an established comic artist and graphic novelist and has just released a book called Suzanne, all about the great French tennis legend Suzanne Lenglen! Listen on in as Tom takes us through his history as a tennis fan through to the point that he knew he wanted to write a story about it. We also talk Andy everything and look at what could be lurking in the uncertain future for our man...

Join us!

The day before he flew out to America to cover the WTA Finals, tennis commentator and analyst Marcus Buckland was kind enough to spare some time to sit down and chat with our hosts awhile in Murray Musings HQ. Marcus has previously worked for Sky and currently works for Amazon Prime and so is well-placed to provide some valuable insight into what life is like behind the scenes in the commentary booth. He also offers advice to up-and-coming tennis journalists before going on share his thoughts on whether or not Andy Murray has one more big tournament left in him...

Grab some popcorn because this is a good 'un!

I usually type these episode descriptions from a half-jokey perspective of an omnipresent overlord in Murray Musings HQ but I'd like to be serious for a second to say that both Peter and myself (Scott!) are very proud of Claire for completing the London Marathon a few weeks ago! She's such a badass and we love her greatly.

But anyways, yes, our boy did play some tennis recently and yes, we do have some thoughts so come join us as we both reflect back on the last few weeks before looking forwards towards Andy's final few tournaments of the season...

Our three hosts finally got their heads in the game and sat down to talk about Andy's journey from the first week of the US Open all the way to Glasgow in Scotland where he participated in the Davis Cup tie last week! And Claire and Scott where there! And Claire even got a selfie with him! And she hasn't shut up about it since! Peter and Scott are considering investing in ear plugs... Aside from that, our hosts also look ahead to this coming weekend's Laver Cup, a pretty significant event given that a little-known player called Roger Federer will play his last professional match there. Get your tissues ready, there's going to be tears...

Alright then...

On the evening before the start of the final major tennis tournament of the year, our three hosts sat down to talk about their boy's chances. Come chill a little as they talk through the possibilities and why it is that all of them are really damn hoping for at the VERY LEAST a second week showing from this tournament. We also hear from Peter about what working at Cincinnati was like and how it feels to now be a recognisable figure for Andy Murray...

Join us.

Catchy episode title, we know...

Back at the beginning of this week, Claire and Peter sat down to talk about the recent happenings in the career of some guy called Andy Murray. Thankfully, no real predictions were made for Andy's week in Canada and so you can close your eyes and pretend with us for awhile that THAT match with Taylor Fritz simply didn't happen... 

Wimbledon was a thing and it happened and some of it was bad and some of it was fucking excellent because Scott and Claire got to actually go and meet Judy Murray and see Andy Murray and see Jamie Murray and see Venus Williams and my goodness, they met some friends for life. Join our hosts as they unpack what went down in Wimbledon town...

Well, this is definitely a Murray Musings highlight!

Former professional player, former coach of Andy Murray and current Amazon Prime tennis commentator and analyst Mark Petchey visited Murray Musings HQ this week and amazingly, didn't get scared off by the fact that one of the very first things Scott wanted to show him was his life-size Andy cardboard cutout! Mark offers insight into his own career, giving advice to aspiring commentators and pundits, as well as telling us about what Andy was like as a teenager trying to make it big in a sport that's notoriously difficult to make it big in. He takes our hosts on trip down memory lane, shares some career highlights and milestones, as well as making a few intriguing predictions for the upcoming Wimbledon fortnight. 

Grab a coffee, a tea, a coke, a glass of water, whatever you fancy, and settle on in. This is a good 'un.

So by this point, it's pretty much a given that Murray Musings content is generally an absolute mess of unfiltered love for Andy Murray and so on this episode, our hosts sat down to commentate on a match as it happened. Oh, yes, listen on in for a whole lot of swearing and screaming and swearing and yelling and swearing and moaning and swearing and...

Ah, yes, another classic "let's record a preview of this tournament when it's already started" episode of Murray Musings! Gotta' love them!

Our hosts sat down alongside Owen, Vansh and Andre from Tennis and Bagels to talk about the French Open and to make their predictions for who's going to beat who along the way. Let it be said that some of these predictions have aged well since this was recorded!... Some have not... We encourage you to laugh freely at the ones that have already disastrously failed.

So Scott was off this week, the wee skiver, and so Claire and Peter were flying solo but not without some help from their special guest, Nick Carter! A massive tennis fanatic and frequent writer, Nick swings by Murray Musings HQ with his thoughts on who will win the French Open, alongside his thoughts on just about everything else other than tennis to be honest! Grab a cup of hot chocolate and settle in for a conversation that wanders and meanders in a style only Murray Musings is truly capable of...

There were cobwebs hanging from the rafters of Murray Musings HQ when our guest arrived last week, so long has it been since we last recorded an episode. Thankfully, he didn't judge us Scott's cleaning skills too harshly...

You may know Lee better as the man behind the twitter handle in the title of this episode. Lee joins us to talk about his life and how he came to be involved in the British tennis scene alongside many other details and tidbits which may prove handy to anyone thinking about visiting their local tennis tournaments. Come join us for a chitchat, a biscuit, and just a little bit of tennis gossip...

We're back! Finally! One day we'll get a regular upload schedule on the go again but until then, you'll have to make do with Scott's schedule which is basically whenever he can stop being lazy and get to work...

Anyways! We're back and we've brought a very special guest in to chat with us all at Murray Musings HQ. Bastien Fachan works in tennis social media, most notably having spent time at the Mouratoglou Academy while also tweeting out content for TennisTV! Oh, yes, Bastien's the man behind all of the gifs and clips that you see down your timeline throughout matches. We quiz Bastien on his introduction to tennis, how he got in to the social side of things, before moving on to talk about both Andy Murray, Roger Federer and what their uncertain on-court futures might hold...

Well... it's certainly been a week!

Come join Peter, Claire and Scott as they sit down together in Murray Musings HQ to discuss the last week and a half of tennis action before turning their attention to the week and a half of tennis action to come. They also talk Ash Barty and the groundbreaking news regarding the current world number 1's decision to take early retirement! What does this mean?! Where does the WTA go from here?! It's all discussed right here in your favourite Andy Murray podcast!... (probably because it's the only Andy Murray podcast available but STILL!)

Just the other night, Andy Murray reached a career milestone that at one point looked to be just about out of his reach. 700 career match wins put him in an elite category of players to reach that number and it only adds to his legacy as one of the greatest, both of his generation and of all time. Join Peter, Claire and Scott as they discuss the match while SOMEHOW FORGETTING TO MENTION THE NUMBER 700 AT ALL THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE! In their defence, it was early in the morning for Claire and Scott and late at night for Peter and so we think that we can all agree that the best course of action is to blame Scott and be done with it...

Anyways, we hope you enjoy and here's to 800!

It's our 50th episode! Thank you all for sticking with us through this weird journey that we started over a year ago now, we can't quite believe that we've made it to this point and we can't quite believe people still listen on in to us, especially given the fact that Scott's been on 95% of the episodes and never shuts up. The perseverance from all of you to put up with THAT is simply astounding!

Anyways, come join us for a special 50th episode where we discuss Andy Murray's BIG coaching hire announcement made just last week. Does this mean a change of fortunes for our man after an up-and-down season so far?! Peter joins us on this call live from on-site at Indian Wells, a tournament that Andy will be playing in this coming week! 

Safe to say it's all kicking off on this week's episode of Murray Musings!

Peter took charge of the Murray Musings ship this week as he sat down in the HQ with general tennis twitter legend LaWanda to talk all things Indian Wells. LaWanda guides us through her origin story with tennis and how exactly she came to be known as a player selfie extraordinaire out in the desert. Wherever you're at, stick some headphones in and let Peter and LaWanda take you through why Indian Wells is so unique. 

Indeed he did!

Joining our hosts on the show today is Travis Landry, a longtime Andy Murray fan and friend of the podcast. Travis brings with him fond/not-so-fond memories of being there live as Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Andy at the US Open last year. Alongside this, we discuss Travis and Peter meeting in person this week at the Dallas Open, what the tournament was like as a whole and what, exactly, it was like to get the chance to interview British number 4 Liam Broady!

...oh, we also discuss Andy's recent results and his upcoming match against Taro Daniel as well!

Just last night, our hosts got the band back together and brought in the Tennis and Bagels Podcast boys to help them run over the second week's happenings at the Australian Open (can you believe they continued the tournament after Andy lost? Unbelievable...). On top of that, they also chitchat about the recent sad news that former US Open champion Juan Martín del Potro is planning to hang up his racket in the next few weeks. :( And on top of that on top of that, they also discuss Andy's chances in the Rotterdam tournament taking place this coming week!

We ramble, we go off topic, we have no idea what's going on... It's another episode of Murray Musings. 

Well... That was the Australian Open, eh? We all enjoyed it even if it was a bit short but it was good for what it was and it wrapped up after only two matches! Crazy! Weird that they didn't even bother playing beyond the second round... Such a shame...

...

Come have a drink with us as we consider Andy Murray's Australian Open run with Michael/@lobwinners. We review what's gone and preview what's still on the horizon and think about what Andy's next steps could be. 

Better days are to come. Believe it.

Yup, this is a mess but when is it ever not with our hosts?! Come listen to Peter, Claire and Scott... erm... analyse(?!) the Australian Open draw in a last minute fashion that only Murray Musings could be capable of!

No, don't adjust your screens. You read that title correctly.

Earlier this week, Claire, Peter, Scott and guest host Zainab sat down with Judy Murray(!!!!) to talk about the legacy of the Murray family, how the governing bodies in British tennis have failed to capitalise on her sons' successes and what she thinks of the current Novak Djokovic situation. Judy brings with her a history of helping children enjoy picking up rackets for the first time and level of coaching that could well produce further Scottish/British tennis champions.

Sit back, relax and listen on in to an episode of Murray Musings that our hosts still can't quite believe took place.

Thank you for taking a chance on us, Judy!

Nothing much has really been happening in the world of professional tennis in the first few weeks of the 2022 season to be honest so we gave Peter, Claire and Scott the week off to relax and do no-... OK, OK, we're only joking! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY WE-HOPE-YOU-ALL-HAVE-THE-RIGHT-VISA! Oh, yes, come and sit with our hosts as we analyse Andy Murray's blink-and-you'd-miss-it start to the year before we move on to talk about the current dilemma surrounding Novak Djokovic...

It's raw. It's passionate. It's real. It's... more-or-less unedited because Scott couldn't work out how to make his audio sound clearer...

IT'S THE FIRST PART OF OUR 2021 SEASON RUNDOWN WITH THE TENNIS AND BAGELS BOYS!!!

(Part 2 to be recorded and uploaded shortly over at Tennis and Bagels HQ!)

Our hosts FINALLY sat down together as a trio last week to discuss all things end of season and all things tennis world relevant! Claire and Peter made sure to roll out an imaginary red carpet for Scott's pod comeback, much to his unbridled appreciation... 

This episode does lead our hosts to some fairly serious discussion topics so feel free to take note of the time stamps that we'll include down below. Thank you!

3 minutes, 52 seconds - Peng Shuai situation discussed in length.

20 minutes, 44 seconds - World Tour Finals discussion begins, Alexander Zverev is spoken about.

40 minutes - Our hosts move on to talk about the WTA Finals.

Claire and Peter poured themselves a glass of their preferred alcoholic beverage this week and sat down to talk about Andy's 2021 season and all that came with it. From the highs of his Wimbledon first and second round wins to the lows of his losses that perhaps came too frequently for both his and our liking, this episode is simultaneously a trip down memory lane and a fingers-crossed look to the future...

A few weeks ago, Blair Henley was kind enough to take time out of her ridiculously busy schedule to come and chat with our hosts again here in Murray Musings HQ. She brought with her fresh new stories from behind the scenes of some of the most well-known and memorable tennis player interviews and interactions and also offered her thoughts on how Andy has been getting on in the second half of 2021. So get some popcorn, grab a drink, and sit with us a while as Claire, Peter and Scott talk with everyone's favourite sporting MC...

And here we finally are, with Peter's full recap of his time working at Indian Wells 2021 and his breakdown of all of his amazing experiences there. Join Claire and Scott as they listen in awed silence (or at least, as much silence as you can get when Scott's around...) to Peter's tales of Andy Murray related in-person chit-chat, which include a certain viral odour eaters shoe gift... 

WE ALSO HAVE A NEW OUTRO SO STAY TUNED UNTIL THE END!

(...or just fast forward to the end of the episode...)

Ahead of this episode, Scott just about managed to pull himself together and be on his best behaviour ahead of Ben Rothenberg's second visit to Murray Musings HQ. Ben kindly agreed to return to the podcast on the final day of the 2021 Laver Cup and shared his thoughts on the tournament with us, as well as commenting once more on the key issues that he feels currently demand the most attention on the professional tennis tours. Some of what is discussed is of a very serious nature so please do take note of the timestamps below. Thank you and we hope you enjoy.

30 minutes, 30 seconds - discussion on the the two articles Ben has written on Olya Sharypova's claims of abuse at the hands of her ex-partner Alexander Zverev. This is followed by Ben's hopes for an investigation of some kind and leads on to the Laver Cup...

56 minutes, 30 seconds - discussion on the Laver Cup and comments made by Reilly Opelka and other players regarding Alexander Zverev. Our hosts also touch on the Laver Cup social media accounts blocking criticism of Zverev's participation.

1 hour, 20 minutes - we move on to discuss Sloane Stephens and Andy Murray.

In the days before Andy's first match in Metz, Peter and Scott sat down to chat about his two match in Rennes last week and what their thoughts are on his form currently. In the absence of Claire, Peter puts in a good shift managing Scott's general pessimism to the point where they both are feeling quietly optimistic about his chances despite a solid draw stacked with quality opposition standing in Andy's way to the title...

The title says it all with this episode as Claire and Peter sit down with returning/guest host Rashmi to talk all things Emma Raducanu and all things Rennes Challenger tournament, the event that Andy Murray is currently playing in this week. Thankfully, Scott could not make it for this recording and so cannot gloat in everyone's faces regarding his absolutely outstanding, mesmerising, fabulous prediction regarding Raducanu's run to the US Open trophy...

Yes, Scott did write this description. ;)

My goodness, so many people in Murray Musings HQ tonight as our hosts invite Owen and Vansh from Tennis and Bagels fame around for dinner and drinks... And by dinner and drinks, we means intense Andy Murray loogate drama chat! Grab yourself a wee drink and settle on in as we sink our teeth into all that went on for Andy in his first round match at the US Open one week ago today...