Who Andy Murray picked as his ‘favourite athlete’ over any tennis player

Andy Murray shared his love for Ronaldinho

Murray spent his early tennis career training in Spain and he developed a love for Barcelona as a teenager.

The Scot used to watch Ronaldinho in the flesh, and the Brazilian icon quickly developed into one of Murray’s favourites.

Taking to X in 2023, Murray wrote: “My favourite athlete growing up, when I moved to Barcelona to train at 15 I got the chance to watch him live a bunch of times. Absolute genius. Always smiling.

“I’d arrive early at the stadium just to watch him warm up as he’d be doing ridiculous skills and tricks like in the video.”

Murray is an avid Arsenal fan, and also keeps an eye out for Hibernian, but he will always have a soft spot for the Brazilian trickster.

How close Andy Murray came to becoming a professional footballer

Murray was famously on the books with Rangers at one point, but he’s dismissed claims that he was good enough to turn professional.

Speaking to Inside FIFA, the Scot said: “Not as close as everyone thinks! I was asked to go back after my first trial with Rangers but it was really difficult to play both tennis and football at the same time.

“Both sports were placing different demands on my body and in the end it just became a question of which sport I enjoyed the most and which I was better at.

“After a lot of deliberation, I decided tennis was the sport I was more naturally gifted at and decided to move to Spain to pursue a career in that, which thankfully turned out to be the right decision.”

Football’s loss was certainly tennis’ gain, as the formidable Scotsman became one of the greatest players Great Britain has ever produced.