Andy Murray's mother Judy spends 'only £14.99' to see him win Challenger title in France
Andy Murray's mother, Judy, was present to witness the final of the Aix Open Provence Crédit Agricole tennis tournament, where the Scotsman was competing for his first title on clay since 2016.
Judy took to social media to disclose how she managed to reach southern France in time for the final. She said she found herself "lucky" that Ryanair had a direct flight to Marseille, which she took to reach Aix-en-Provence.
Judy also shared that the flight's ticket cost her £14.99, and it was worth it to see her son win his first title since 2019.
"So lucky that @ryanair had a direct flight to Marseille this morning and I could make it to @ATPChallenger Aix en Provence for the final. And it was only £14.99 worth every penny!!" she tweeted.
In another post, Judy shared how she commemorated the title with Andy. Their celebration plans included chocolate pudding and best-of-five matches of the famous card game Monopoly Deal.
She added that the Challenger title was Andy’s only victory that day, indicating that she had aced her son in the card game.
"A great end to a great day. An amazing chocolatey pud and a best of 5 sets match at Monopoly Deal. Let’s just say the tennis title was Andy’s only victory today. ATPAixenProvenc," another tweet read.
Andy Murray wins his first Challenger title in 17 years
Andy Murray entered the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence as the fifth seed after being granted a late wild card entry. This came after his first-round loss at the 2023 Madrid Open to Andrea Vavassori.
Murray stormed into the final after defeating four Frenchmen on the trot, including Gael Monfils. The three-time Grand Slam Champion only dropped one set and looked in good shape on clay after a disappointing outing in Spain.
In the final, he faced World No. 17 and top seed Tommy Paul. The former World No. 1 rallied from a set down to defeat the American 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 and win his first Challenger title since the Binghamton Challenger in 2005.
The triumph over Paul was his third Top-20 win of the 2023 season and the title was his third career Challenger trophy. Thanks to his victory in France, Murray has climbed to World No. 42 in the ATP Live Rankings.
A win on clay against a top player like Paul is a good sign for Murray as he heads to Rome for the Italian Open, the tournament where he won his last claycourt title (2016) at any level.