Andy Murray wins praise for taking on 'casual sexism' in press conference following Wimbledon defeat

Murray corrected a reporter who overlooked the success of female American players

Wednesday 12 July 2017 16:42 BST
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Andy Murray calls journalist out for 'causal sexism'

Andy Murray has won praise for correcting a reporter who was accused of asking a casually sexist question, in the post-match press conference following his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat.

Murray, the defending Wimbledon champion, crashed out of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon when he was beaten in five sets by the American player Sam Querrey.

The World No 1 was struggling with an injury throughout the match, and eventually lost his epic quarter-final to Querrey in 2 hours and 42 minutes.

But despite his defeat, Murray immediately won praise for his post-match press conference appearance, after he corrected a journalist who had had appeared to forget the achievements of a number of female American tennis players.

A journalist began asking Murray a question, saying: “Sam is the first US player to reach a major semi-final since 2009”, only to be interrupted by the player.

“Male player,” Murray reminded him.

The journalist didn’t appear to understand what Murray meant, asking “I beg your pardon?” before Murray again reminded him that Querrey was the first male US player to reach a semi-final since 2009 – not the first player.

Although male US tennis players have struggled in recent years, female players from the country have enjoyed far more success at the Grand Slam tournaments.

Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday, for example, and will play Great Britain’s Johanna Konta for a place in the final.

Williams is into the Wimbledon semi-finals

Her little sister, Serena, is meanwhile considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, and since 2009 has won 12 Grand Slam tournaments.

Coco Vandeweghe and Madison Keys have also played in Grand Slam semi-finals.

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