DEFEATED UK No1 Andy Murray went go-karting as the Wimbledon final kicked off yesterday – while he denounced "lies" in media reports that he smashed his rackets in defeat.
"On way to go karting!! One of friends asked if I broke all my rackets, said he read it, more lies!!" Murray wrote on his Twitter site yesterday afternoon, on the eve of Roger Federer's victory in a marathon final.
Murray said Federer "obviously"
was the favourite against Andy Roddick, who knocked him out of the Wimbledon semi-final.
There was no sign of the Scottish world No3 on Centre Court yesterday. Go-karting has become one of Murray's favourite pastimes for relaxing between games, at tracks like nearby Surbiton, sometimes with girlfriend Kim Sears.
It was the Australian former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash who suggested Murray had broken his rackets.
"The information coming out of the Wimbledon locker room isn't often erroneous, and I'm reliably informed Andy Murray sought a little solitude after losing his semi-final and took out his frustration on the tools of his trade," Cash wrote in a Sunday newspaper.
"When he walked in after that match, he had a bagful of fully functional rackets. A couple of minutes later, they were mangled, broken and consigned to the rubbish."
But Cash said it could only be "weeks rather than months" before Murray won a major title. "He isn't the first man to smash his rackets in annoyance and won't be the last. Many of those vandals from the past have been grand slam champions."
Murray has often denounced media "lies" about his behaviour. He insisted in an interview carried on his website after his semi-final defeat that he was moving on and looking to the US Open in eight weeks time.
"I'll move on very, very quickly and go and work on my game and improve and come back stronger. That's a pathetic attitude to have, if you lose one match and you go away and, you know, let it ruin your year.
"I've had a very good year so far. I'm very close to the top of the game. The US Open I've always said is my best surface, my best chance to win a slam, and I'll give it my best shot there."
Larry Stefanki, the coach who helped mastermind Roddick's defeat of the Scot, said yesterday Murray must ditch his defensive approach. "His record is great and he is a very strong-minded kid, but he needs to recognise when to play offence," said Mr Stefanki, who has coached John McEnroe and Tim Henman.
In a weekend interview, meanwhile, Murray's father Will publicly demanded more credit for bringing up the young prodigy.
The young Andy and brother Jamie lived with him in Dunblane while mother Judy pursued her career as Scotland's national tennis coach, he said.
He said: "I am not the kind who runs in and demands publicity. But the tale has come out like she (Judy] was the one always there. I worked full-time but I cooked when they came home from school. I did the washing and ironing."
