While the finals for the 2017 Wimbledon Championship take place this weekend, it looks like the real winner this year in England is Andy Murray. Despite the British tennis player losing to U.S. player Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals, Andy Murray is still making headlines after he shut down a sexist reporter during the press conference after his loss. Now, Serena Williams is declaring her love for Andy Murray after his comments.
One of the big stories of Wimbledon 2017 was Sam Querrey, who became the first U.S. male tennis player to make the semifinals at Wimbledon since 2009. There have been plenty of U.S. female tennis players to make the semifinals since 2009, including Serena Williams winning 14 grand slams since that year. Her sister, Venus Williams, has also seen a lot of success during that timeframe, including a trip to this year’s Wimbledon finals tomorrow in England.
During the press conference, the reporter mentioned that Querrey was “the first U.S. player to reach a major semi-final since 2009.” However, Murray was having none of his sexist remarks and corrected the reporter. Andy Murray said, “Male player,” but the reporter did not hear. Murray repeated himself saying, “Male player, right?”
Andy Murray had the best response to a reporter’s “casual sexism” https://t.co/vLvXl8rtNA pic.twitter.com/CZGBuluuk1
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) July 13, 2017
That comment sent Twitter buzzing, as everyone was praising Andy Murray for his response and not laughing it off, like the reporter did. Murray stayed stone-faced. It may have been a simple error by the reporter, but it also goes to show you the sexism that can happen in any sport.
Serena Williams was not going to let this opportunity pass her by, as she came out in support of Andy Murray and declared her love for him. Williams talked with ESPN and said that there “shouldn’t be a female athlete that is not totally supportive of Andy Murray.”
Williams did not stop there, as she praised Andy for always sticking up for women. Apparently having a strong mother that raised him is the key, as Serena points out in the interview.
“He has spoken up for women’s issues and women’s rights, especially in tennis, for forever. He does it again. That’s who he is, that’s one thing that we love about him. He has such a wonderful mother, who’s been such a strong figure in his life. He’s done so much for us on our tour, so we love Andy. We love Andy Murray.”
Serena Williams is not the only one in love with Andy Murray lately. He has won over many fans and supporters over the past couple days and rightfully so. He may not have won Wimbledon this season, but this is probably a bigger victory for him anyway.
[Featured Image by Joe Toth – AELTC Pool/Getty Images]