Andy Murray hits out at critics of women’s sport

Former world No 1’s advocacy for equality between men and women in sport is well known

Sir Andy Murray has hit out at critics of women’s athletes, saying he would encourage his two young daughters to play sport.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray’s advocacy of equality between men and women in sport is well known, and the Scot again spoke on the matter in an interview with Sky News this week.

When asked what he thinks of the opinion that women are less talented athletes than men, especially at the professional level, the 33-year-old said: “Well, that’s simply not true.

“There’s obviously physical barriers which mean that the men and women can’t compete directly against each other in [most] sports, but the elite females that are competing at the top of world sport are incredible athletes.

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“I obviously get to see a lot of them first hand when I’m competing on the tennis tour, because a lot of our major events are combined.

“I obviously see how hard all of them work and how good they are as athletes as well.

“I mean, I would encourage my daughters to play sport, because I think it’s good for your health, your physical wellbeing.

“So yeah, that’s what kind of what I would say to that.”

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Murray has struggled with injuries for the best part of the last three years, with a hip operation early in 2019 seemingly ending his career before the two-time Wimbledon champion returned and won titles on both the men’s singles and doubles tours before the year was up.

The former world No 1 most recently competed in Cologne in October, losing to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in straight sets in the first round.