Plans for Two-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray to build a new tennis and golf complex near his home town of Dunblane have been rejected by the local authority.
Murray, who has won the US Open and Wimbledon, was being supported by his mother in gaining permission for the development but plans have now been shelved in light of the local council’s rejection.
Murray, who led Great Britain to Davis Cup victory for the first time in more than seventy years this season, has been a vocal critic of the work by the Lawn Tennis Association to develop future talent.
“I was there on a Monday at two or three o’clock, and then on Tuesday at the same time, and there was not one person using any of the indoor courts [The National Tennis Centre] and not one person in the gym.
‘I took photos of it because the place cost £40m and there are no people. No players practising, nothing going on at all, like empty. And, you know, it doesn’t necessarily have to be performance players involved but to have nothing is such a shame, to walk in and find nobody there.“
Though Murray’s now aborted venture was not designed to be an academy, but more a business investment, much like the Scottish castle that he has turned into a hotel, there are examples of players who have created academies or foundations as a way to give back to the sport.
The likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Andre Agassi have all created foundations to support underprivileged people.
