TO say Andy Murray's Wimbledon win in the summer of 2013 was an emotional period for Ross Hutchins is putting things mildly. The Scot's great friend and perennial doubles partner had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at the end of 2012 and was deeply moved by the gestures of Murray and others around that year's Queen's Club tournament, where the Scot had donated his prize purse to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in his honour and a total in excess of £150,000 had been raised in all.
Little wonder then if he felt a bit teary a few short weeks later when the Scot crushed Novak Djokovic in the SW19 final before famously clambering up to the players' box. Further good news would follow that month, when Hutchins announced the cancer was in remission.
“It was very emotional, personally," the Englishman said. "It was a different time for me back then and a different time for him back then. It was just outstanding how he managed to get over the line that day."
Murray has reached the mature stage of his career now - and the likes of Djokovic and Roger Federer have fallen by the wayside before the final - but that doesn't mean lifting his second Wimbledon title on Centre Court in 2016 would be any less satisfactory for all concerned. While things three years ago went by in a blur, even the 29-year-old plans to enjoy things a bit more if he can record a second title here.
Hutchins, now vice-president of player relations at the ATP Tour - a position which will see him deal often with Murray via his new seat on the ATP players' council - knows winning is simply part of his pal's DNA.
“True champions, I believe, never get tired of winning," said Hutchins. "They want more and he is a proper champion, isn’t he? He’s as good an athlete as we’ve ever had. The more you win, the older you get and the more established you become, the more your expectation goes up and everyone else’s goes up as well. He is achieving so much now it’s quite staggering."
With Djokovic, after a year of such robotic brilliance, suddenly appearing human, perhaps the path may even be clearing for the Scot to get the kind of haul of major titles his talent deserves. He is still the thick end of a year away from his 30th birthday, a point after which both Stan Wawrinka and Federer have won major titles on the men's side, and after which Serena Williams was yesterday chasing her ninth Grand Slam win.
“It’s tough to say how long he can go on," said Hutchins. "Things can change quickly. But he seems physically strong right now and seems in a very good place. He’s very happy with his family life and with his coaching situation - with everything really.
“I’ve seen most of his matches on TV this year rather than live as I’ve been occupied with other stuff. But he is playing very, very well. He’s at ease with his game and you just have to look at what he’s done prior to getting back with Ivan [Lendl] as well, on the clay courts. He got to the semis in Monte Carlo, got to the final of two Masters 1000 events on the clay, the final of the French Open. Then he won Queen’s. He’s won a lot of matches and when these top guys get into grooves of winning matches, it’s very difficult to push them off their perch."
Andy and his brother Jamie are due to play doubles at the Olympics next month and have hinted that they could do likewise on the tour at some point. Mark Woodforde, the Australian doubles expert who coaches world No 1 pairing Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, reckons that partnership could bring even more silverware back to Scotland.
"If Andy played doubles more he’d be one of the best out there and I think if Andy and Jamie ever wanted to strike up a little doubles partnership they would give some of these majors a really good tilt," said Woodforde, "but Jamie has been able to stand tall in the doubles court in his own right."
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