"What a surprise" - Andy Murray reacts sarcastically as plans for building $26M tennis center to honor his legacy fall through
Andy Murray has reacted to his mother's project being scrapped due to rising costs, long planning procedures, and discussions with governing bodies. The project led by Judy Murray would have cost $26M, and aimed to design a community multi-sport facility at Park of Keir to mark the tennis legacy of her family.
A spokesperson from the Murray charity revealed that the legacy project has now been scrapped due to a significant increase in construction material, labor costs, and a tiring and uncertain planning process. This project was initiated to honor the tennis legacy of the Murray family.
Andy Murray, who retired after Paris Olympics, shared a sarcastic reaction on X after the discontinuation of this project was announced on August 27, Tuesday. He wrote:
"What a surprise 🙄"
A spokesperson from the Murray family released the news of the discontinuation of the project and said that despite Ms. Murray having the intentions of giving the next generation reliable opportunities to access courts and receive the deserved coaching, the project is being stopped (as quoted by the Daily Express).
"Judy has been involved in promoting sport and tennis her whole life. This not-for-profit project was an opportunity to build a base in Scotland that would have lasted beyond her lifetime and given the next generation greater opportunity to access courts, competition, and coaching," said the spokesperson.
They added:
"However, she and her team persevered until several factors conspired to leave the project unviable in its current form and we no longer plan to seek a detailed planning consent on the site at Park of Keir."
Andy Murray joked about never liking tennis after retirement
Andy Murray announced his official retirement from professional tennis following his men's doubles quarter-final at the Paris Olympics. He and Dan Evans squared off against the USA's Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul and lost with a score of 6-2, 6-4. This marked Murray's retirement from tennis.
Following this, he changed his X's bio from 'I play tennis' to 'I played tennis', and also jokingly tweeted:
"Never even liked tennis anyway."
His mother, Judy Murray, also gave a hilarious reply to it, tweeting:
"Me neither."
Andy Murray's tweet went viral, with more than 1 million likes and over 44 million views on the tweet in just four days. Murray has achieved multiple historic victories in his career, one of them was being the first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title in 77 years.
He is also the only player in tennis history to win the gold medal in the singles event at consecutive Olympic Games (2012 London Games and 2016 Rio Games).