TENNIS ace Andy Murray was saved from his Wimbledon heartache by the 2012 Olympic games according to his mother.

 

Judy Murray said her son had always been able to come back from defeats but was 'very down' after losing out on the Wimbledon title to Roger Federa and entered a 'vegetative' state for days before being forced back into training for the London games, where he went on to win a gold medal.

The tennis coach said her youngest son watched other athletes, including Roger Federa and Rafa Nadal, to pick up tips on coping with intense media scrutiny after losing a match.

In the early days of the Olympic gold medallists career, the Murray family struggled with their new-found fame, however, the mother of two said their determination saw them through difficult moments.

The 55-year-old said: "From a very young age he has always been very good at coming back from things that have disappointed him or a bad performance and he was always came back stronger and worked much harder.

"In 2012, he really was down and I think he felt he let everybody down, if you can imagine it to have everyone willing you on and being so close, but I think the Olympics saved him.

"He vegetated for about four days and the Olympics were just a matter of weeks later so I think he would have vegetated a lot longer if it was not for having to get back in the saddle for the games.

"Whenever the boys lost we always said 'let's do something about it, let's look at it, let's go over it' so that is what he does."

Both Andy and, his elder brother, Jamie have picked up their mother's determination to tackle obstacles head on and support one another in reaching their goals.

Judy said: "I have never had to motivate the boys, they always worked their hardest.

"For me, that was what it was about.

"When you are young you show your frustration, you wear your heart on your sleeve and you get nailed for it - it hurts - but you learn that whether someone is saying something about you or not you do your best."

The tennis coach was in Glasgow to discuss the importance of getting more women involved in sport and discussed some of her own difficulties as a former athlete.

"We need female coaches to attract little girls but also to retain them, we need female coaches on every level we are very outnumbered.

"I applied for a performance coach qualification in 1994, my kids were 7 and 8.

"There were 20 places, they gave 18 to men and I was very lucky to get in.

"One of the men who did not get in wrote a letter to the Lawn Tennis Association complaining because I had two young kids and what could I bring to performance coaching.

"I quite like it when I see him coming towards me now."