T
he promotional picture offers a clue. The national treasure is looking straight down the camera, deadpan, but his right cheek is impacted by the tennis ball which has supposedly come out of nowhere to hit him side on. It’s a gently comical image for Andy Murray, Centre Stage, billed as “a rare opportunity to be in the company of one of the world’s most beloved and entertaining athletes”. Or as they also put it: game, set and chat.
Around 3,000 devotees — and it is soon clear that they are exactly that — filled Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo on Wednesday for night one of the four-venue schedule. What kind of crowd does Andy Murray draw? A silver-haired gent resplendent in a tweed jacket and kilt. A woman carrying a novelty tennis ball the size of a basketball. A guy in a “Scotland Tennis” t-shirt. All shapes and sizes, slightly more women than men, seemingly all united by relentless waves of affection and enthusiasm for one of the Andrews up on stage.
There were two of those. The conversation was steered by the respected sports broadcaster Andrew Cotter, “the lesser Andrew” as he introduced himself. “I’m a fan like the rest of you,” he said. “We’re here because we love him and want to hear from him.” And they sure were, even if the greatest tennis player Britain has produced managed precisely three sentences before the inevitable comedy bellow of “come on Andy” from the stalls.
