:00:02. > :00:12.I don't see how it can save money when people are just going to be
:00:12. > :00:19.
:00:19. > :00:21.On Newsnight Scotland tonight, we will take this once in a lifetime
:00:21. > :00:24.opportunity, so far, to talk about tennis. Andy Murray's sensational
:00:24. > :00:27.Wimbledon victory is simply worth celebrating, but it raises lots of
:00:27. > :00:30.interesting questions too. Good evening.
:00:30. > :00:33.In 1896 Edinburgh born Harold Mahoney won the Wimbledon men's
:00:33. > :00:36.singles. 42 years later Fred Perry from Stockport did the job, then
:00:36. > :00:38.there was nothing much for Scottish or English men's tennis until
:00:38. > :00:41.yesterday. Andy Murray's win has entirely stolen Britain and
:00:41. > :00:44.Scotland's news headlines for the past 26 hours, and shortly we will
:00:44. > :00:54.discuss what the win means for Murray, for his sport, and for his
:00:54. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:10.nations. First, Andrew Black has It was the victory he would spend
:01:10. > :01:15.much of his life striving for. His result at Wimbledon was a long time
:01:16. > :01:21.in the making. As a 14 year rolled he drained of competing in one of
:01:21. > :01:28.the most prestigious tennis tournaments. Hopefully I will be
:01:28. > :01:37.playing Wimbledon in four years, maybe junior Wimbledon in two years,
:01:37. > :01:47.but that is perhaps a bit ambitious. He made 2012 year to remember,
:01:47. > :01:49.
:01:49. > :01:53.Olympic gold in London and victory at the US open. But there was
:01:53. > :02:03.heartache as well, he lost out to Roger Federer at last year's
:02:03. > :02:04.
:02:05. > :02:12.Wimbledon. Everybody always talks about the pressure of playing at
:02:12. > :02:16.Wimbledon and how tough it is, but it is not the people watching, they
:02:16. > :02:26.make it so much easier to play it. This support has been incredible,
:02:26. > :02:27.
:02:27. > :02:31.so... Thank you. He expressed a similar sentiment when talking about
:02:31. > :02:37.his win at Wimbledon. Within 45 minutes of the court I was spent.
:02:37. > :02:44.was so tired. Subconsciously, everything that goes on with
:02:44. > :02:53.Wimbledon, and almost the seven or eight years past of build-up just
:02:53. > :02:58.took it is tall after the match yesterday. -- took its toll. But it
:02:58. > :03:05.wasn't just a personal triumph, his mother said the ups and downs were
:03:05. > :03:09.worth it. Applebee 's not going to forget about me, I was thinking,
:03:09. > :03:13.that I was a weird that he was on a flimsy part of the roof and I was
:03:13. > :03:19.three rows back which was not an easy thing for him to do. I have
:03:19. > :03:23.been through it over many years now, and I knew how much it meant to Andy
:03:23. > :03:29.last year to be in the final and to not quite make it and how much he
:03:29. > :03:39.wanted to win this one. And then it has finally happened for him. It was
:03:39. > :03:41.
:03:41. > :03:46.a huge moment. The fans have also been on board for this journey. And
:03:46. > :03:52.of course, the politicians as well like to get involved. The Prime
:03:52. > :03:56.Minister even suggested he should get a knighthood. Well, it was a
:03:56. > :04:00.completely fantastic day for Andy Murray, for British tennis, for
:04:00. > :04:05.Britain. I think he lifted the spirits for the whole country, we
:04:05. > :04:12.geared to dream yesterday and he proved that it was good to dear to
:04:12. > :04:17.dream. I cannot think of anyone who deserves a knighthood more.
:04:17. > :04:24.could never accuse Alex Salmond of giving up an opportunity to promote
:04:24. > :04:28.Scotland. It was exhausting. I was watching and I am emotionally spent.
:04:28. > :04:35.He is a great tennis player and a great Wimbledon champion. Today Andy
:04:35. > :04:39.Murray took part in the standard photo call with tennis enthusiasts,
:04:39. > :04:44.it raised the question of where a sport's future stars might come
:04:44. > :04:52.from. He said he did not have knowledge of where that would be but
:04:52. > :04:58.he was more relaxed about his own career. I just know that I will
:04:58. > :05:04.never top that, I don't think. Nothing I do now will have the same
:05:04. > :05:14.pressure on the same expectation. It would have that I don't know...
:05:14. > :05:17.
:05:17. > :05:20.I'm joined now to discuss this historic event by Rob Robertson who
:05:20. > :05:22.wrote a biography of Andy Murray, by Dani Garavelli the newspaper
:05:23. > :05:32.columnist and Murray-watcher, and from Edinburgh by Alex Massie who
:05:32. > :05:40.has already been blogging on the subject for the Spectator. Good
:05:40. > :05:43.evening. Thank you for joining me. Percival to you, Rob, let us put the
:05:43. > :05:50.achievement in context, where does this lie in terms of Scottish
:05:50. > :05:57.sporting success, the best when ever? By a male. No offence to all
:05:57. > :06:05.the others, it is way above anything that those people have achieved. --
:06:05. > :06:09.mile. Everything we can top that in Scottish sporting history. And what
:06:09. > :06:14.about in British sporting history? It is being as well, I would put it
:06:14. > :06:18.in the top two or three as well, but from his point of view, he would be
:06:18. > :06:22.looking at the following promise, he will be looking at what he has
:06:22. > :06:26.achieved. He will be relieved he has actually done it. He was on his back
:06:26. > :06:33.and he was struggling, once he has done this everything is going to
:06:33. > :06:43.come fine. He can go on and when a couple more Grand Slam 's. You have
:06:43. > :06:43.
:06:43. > :06:49.been following his career, where does this particular when light?
:06:49. > :06:55.is just an enormous achievement. It is also clear that it captured the
:06:55. > :06:59.public adulation in a way that it has never in my lifetime, across the
:06:59. > :07:08.social spectrum and across Scotland. There were more people watching at
:07:08. > :07:12.behind him than fraud any English sportsman I can remember. A huge
:07:12. > :07:18.number of people watched it across the UK on television. It is a big UK
:07:18. > :07:24.event as well isn't it? It is, when you have had a 77 year wait for a
:07:24. > :07:29.man to win at Wimbledon it is the sort of thing that each year a
:07:29. > :07:31.British man feels to content and the pressure gets bigger.
:07:31. > :07:38.expectation and anticipation gets bigger. It is one of the things
:07:38. > :07:42.about Andy Murray and his success, the other top players have a keen
:07:42. > :07:46.awareness and appreciation of the particular difficulties of being a
:07:46. > :07:51.British contender at Wimbledon, and that is the thing that they
:07:51. > :07:57.recognise and the knowledge makes Andy Murray's achievement all the
:07:57. > :08:03.more special. They think in terms of Scottish sporting success, as an
:08:03. > :08:10.individual achievement, they could possibly ranks at the top, the only
:08:10. > :08:20.thing that really compares as Jimmy Clark's record. But Andy Murray mate
:08:20. > :08:20.
:08:20. > :08:24.have the top spot in terms of top sporting success. -- might.
:08:25. > :08:32.Commentators said that it marched in time with the World Cup when of
:08:32. > :08:42.1966, which perhaps doesn't have much relevance for Scottish people.
:08:42. > :08:42.
:08:42. > :08:49.The comparisons between team sports and individual sports are difficult.
:08:49. > :08:53.The 1966 game is one of the great achievements, and improbable
:08:53. > :09:00.achievement, a team of Scottish people all born within a mile of
:09:00. > :09:06.Glasgow. That is impossible to replicate. Andy Murray's triumphs is
:09:06. > :09:10.almost as improbable. But sometimes we get a little bit too down on
:09:10. > :09:14.ourselves. Yet it is astonishing that a Scottish man has won at
:09:14. > :09:24.Wimbledon, but other countries have also found champions from improbable
:09:24. > :09:25.
:09:25. > :09:29.places. Sweden had no great record and neither had Switzerland. And
:09:30. > :09:37.then they had Roger Federer. Before Novak Djokovic emerged there was no
:09:37. > :09:44.Serbian man winning a Grand Slam in the men's. Yes it is remarkable. Yes
:09:44. > :09:51.it is something that deserves salutations. But it is not perhaps
:09:51. > :09:58.quite as unique as we want it to feel in the 24 over as after the
:09:58. > :10:02.magnificent triumph. A remarkable Scottish triumph. You are writing in
:10:02. > :10:06.the Scotland on Sunday yesterday about watching him grow up. You
:10:06. > :10:11.collect you know him, you have seen him rise up this level. Wrote about
:10:11. > :10:16.these unique Scottish characteristics that you have
:10:17. > :10:24.spotted in Andy Murray. Do you think those characteristics are ones that
:10:24. > :10:28.as Scottish men have are things that have made him reach those heights?
:10:28. > :10:32.Certainly that work ethic that some of us would call Calvinist. One of
:10:32. > :10:36.the remarkable things about him is that he pleases so much value on
:10:37. > :10:41.that. In every single interview you hear him speak about not his talent
:10:41. > :10:45.but working for every shot. He explained that it is tough and he
:10:45. > :10:48.has worked. That is quite a Scottish Value and something I think has
:10:48. > :10:54.definitely helped. But perhaps there are other characteristics such as
:10:54. > :11:02.Billy in his career and psychological floral they call it of
:11:02. > :11:06.failing that you cant when mate have held back, that is a Scottish treat.
:11:06. > :11:13.In his character what kind of floors were the? Did he earn them out to
:11:13. > :11:16.reach this pinnacle? Think the key thing for him was leaving Scotland.
:11:16. > :11:20.It think it broadened his outlook and made him realise that he was
:11:20. > :11:25.quite good at this game. He is playing against better players and
:11:26. > :11:29.what you can forget is that he was winning in America as a young age
:11:29. > :11:35.and made a transition from a junk top-class players to a full-blown
:11:35. > :11:42.professional player. So I think the only problems he had war belief in
:11:42. > :11:47.himself. -- was. The fact he left at Sun -- at such a young wave -- at
:11:47. > :11:52.such a young age gave him the confidence. It is great for Scotland
:11:52. > :11:58.but it is all going to Andy Murray and his team and his guts to go to
:11:58. > :12:00.Barcelona at 15 and try to better himself. Alex Massie, anything in
:12:00. > :12:05.the Scottish character that holds us back from achieving that kind of
:12:05. > :12:08.is home direct swapping list, and they can swap within the social
:12:08. > :12:18.housing list without losing tendency rights. It is all going
:12:18. > :12:24.
:12:24. > :12:30.well is it? It is important we point out We can fall back on the
:12:30. > :12:35.habit of making excuses and use the idea of Scotland as a small country.
:12:35. > :12:41.We can use the fact that the climate is not always conducive to outdoor
:12:41. > :12:46.sport as crutches to explain away sporting failure and it can seem
:12:46. > :12:52.that we do not legitimately expect to do better. There's a certain love
:12:52. > :12:59.the heroic failure but when you actual kept most of them, they are
:12:59. > :13:03.not nearly as you like as the myths surrounding them. There are plenty
:13:03. > :13:08.of small countries that have sporting success and other countries
:13:08. > :13:14.with cooler climates that have sporting success. One thing that can
:13:14. > :13:21.be drawn from Andy Murray's sporting success, if anything can be
:13:21. > :13:25.extrapolated from an individual's determination to improve, it is that
:13:25. > :13:30.if you want to succeed you must set the very highest standards and
:13:30. > :13:36.expectations for yourself and not be satisfied with what your gamers at
:13:36. > :13:40.any point. You must always be searching for improvement and we see
:13:40. > :13:46.that with Andy Murray throughout his career as he has moved from coach to
:13:46. > :13:51.court thinking he has run his way with one coach and now get another
:13:51. > :13:58.one to take him to the next level. He has never made an excuse for
:13:59. > :14:01.failure. He recognises that feel years are sometimes down to pure
:14:01. > :14:07.luck or circumstance but fundamentally the solution to feel
:14:07. > :14:11.your lives with them. If we have to learn anything it is that we must
:14:11. > :14:16.set higher standards for ourselves when it comes to sporting
:14:16. > :14:24.expectations whether individual or team sports. Perhaps from that
:14:24. > :14:29.analysis, a real role model for other sports men in Scotland.
:14:29. > :14:35.have to take it as a package. His mother is a role model for parents
:14:35. > :14:40.as well. She drove home and took him to Barcelona. He has a role model
:14:40. > :14:46.and people will be taking up tennis racket all over Scotland and
:14:46. > :14:53.thinking, I can be Andy Murray. To be honest, most of them cannot be
:14:53. > :14:58.because they do not have the drive and the family back-up and the
:14:58. > :15:02.perfect system whereby he has come through the ranks. I would love to
:15:03. > :15:06.think that another Scottish tennis player can, but I am not convinced
:15:06. > :15:13.because the key for me is Judy Murray. There is a golden
:15:13. > :15:21.generation, and Jamie Baker was helped by Judy Murray as well. I
:15:21. > :15:25.would like to think so but I cannot see it. Anything in our national
:15:25. > :15:31.characteristics that hold us back? Do you think they will not be able
:15:31. > :15:38.to repeat that? If anything, the role model thing is the most
:15:38. > :15:43.important and he has shown us that it is important. Building on another
:15:43. > :15:47.Scottish successes like Chris Hoy and Katherine Grainger, it should be
:15:47. > :15:53.becoming clear that it is possible and also that it is about keeping
:15:53. > :15:57.going and not giving up too easily. He is a fantastic role model and the
:15:57. > :16:01.really welcome one because if you look around at football, which is
:16:01. > :16:06.maybe the sports most people look towards, there are not enough role
:16:06. > :16:12.models. Everything about his character is something you could say
:16:12. > :16:15.to your children, emulate him. Speaking of Scottish
:16:15. > :16:25.characteristics, there was one particular soul tired very much in
:16:25. > :16:28.
:16:28. > :16:38.evidence yesterday. -- Saltire. Was he writes to bring it out at that
:16:38. > :16:40.
:16:40. > :16:47.point? This is a mini tempest in an espresso cup. We should have better
:16:47. > :16:52.things to think about and talk about. I am all for waving Saltires
:16:52. > :17:00.and have with them myself but for a first Minister when he knows cameras
:17:00. > :17:06.are on hand to produce the fried like that was opportunistic.
:17:06. > :17:13.thought it was a bit naff but I could see his point. Reminding us
:17:13. > :17:19.that Andy Murray was Scottish. It was a bit naff. We will leave that
:17:19. > :17:25.argument has said. He has been very diplomatic on the idea of Scottish
:17:25. > :17:29.independence. He was asked on one programme today and he said it takes
:17:29. > :17:38.a lot of thought and when pressed further he said, let's leave it at
:17:38. > :17:44.that. Is that the ideal way for him to behave? Yes, there is no upside
:17:44. > :17:49.for him to get involved in political controversies. Michael Jordan was
:17:49. > :17:59.once asked, why do you not take a stand is on a political issue humour
:17:59. > :18:00.
:18:00. > :18:05.he pointed out the other lot by sneakers too. Why should Andy Murray
:18:05. > :18:07.be expected to have a coherent political position on either side of
:18:07. > :18:12.the argument when it comes to the argument when it comes to these
:18:12. > :18:19.constitutional future of Scotland. Why should he be expected to express
:18:19. > :18:25.it? His views has alone and I don't anyone outside the self obsessed
:18:25. > :18:32.political media bubble have any interest in hearing them. There was
:18:32. > :18:37.a famous occasion when he was misquoted when he said he did not
:18:37. > :18:42.want England to win the World Cup, because he was sitting next to Tim
:18:42. > :18:47.Henman and I would call it banter. do not think his political views
:18:47. > :18:56.will come into focus. If you did come down on one side or the other,
:18:56. > :19:00.my goodness! What an impact he would have! We were talking about Alex
:19:01. > :19:05.Salmond but there are plenty of politicians involved. We saw Andy
:19:05. > :19:13.Murray at Downing Street and all the party leaders were there. They do
:19:13. > :19:18.like to be seen with success. quite reminiscent of Tony Blair
:19:18. > :19:24.where he was getting them to spread glitter dust. If he can use it to
:19:24. > :19:29.his advantage and for the sport, that is to his credit. He is shrewd
:19:29. > :19:37.enough to shy away from being used as a pawn. I am all for this but can
:19:37. > :19:42.we not give him the knighthood when he retires. Give it to him when he
:19:43. > :19:46.is finished but just guarantee he will definitely get one. Politicians
:19:46. > :19:56.love this feeling of confidence, does it play into economic
:19:56. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:06.confidence? A quick look at the papers tomorrow
:20:06. > :20:12.and Andy Murray dominates the front page of the Scotsman. The Guardian