Andy Murray knows how to reveal his vulnerability

British tennis player Andy Murray’s last Wimbledon Championships is over. Murray, who received back surgery 10 days before the opening of this year’s tournament, gave up on singles and only competed in doubles. The first doubles match of Wimbledon unusually took place in the center court in respect of Murray. The center court is where Murray wrote the history of British tennis. In 2012, he shed tears after losing the final match to Roger Federer as the first British player to compete in the men’s singles final at Wimbledon for the first time in 76 years. A month later, he beat Federer in the men’s singles final at the London Olympics, which took place on the same court, and won a gold medal. A year later, he brought a Wimbledon championship for men’s singles to the U.K., the host of the tournament, for the first time in 77 years.

With another Wimbledon win in 2016, Murray has a total of three wins in major tournaments. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2016 and was knighted by Buckingham Palace. It was said that he would be added to the world’s top 3 tennis players – Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. However, while the top 3 players each recorded 20 major tournament wins, Murray didn’t add any new wins and had his final match in a major tournament. The British player’s last moment was far from being legendary. After he lost the first doubles match, a tribute video was played on the screen with the background music of “Creep” by a British rock band, Radiohead.

“‘I wish I was special. You’re so fuckin’ special. But I’m a creep… I don’t belong here.” The song's lyrics resembled Murray’s career that couldn’t join the ranks of the top 3 players. He competed in 11 finals of major tournaments but lost three times against Federer and five times against Djokovic. Some fans said the choice of the song was too cruel and inappropriate to pay tribute to Murray’s last match.

However, the tennis player took a step further. During an interview following the match, he listed all the moments that some might describe as embarrassing. He talked about how he asked his wife’s email address when he saw his wife for the first time when he was 18 and how he thought she really liked him as she continued to see him even after he puked twice in the match she came to see him for the first time. When asked how he felt after his 2016 Wimbledon win, which was the high point of his career, he said he didn’t have much memory because he drank quite a bit and puked in a taxi on his way home.

Murray decided to remain vulnerable rather than a British tennis hero in his last moment on the center court of the world’s best tennis tournament, which is a place only given to the best of the best. Brene Brown, a social welfare expert who studied vulnerability, said only strong people can reveal some embarrassing facts about themselves that they might want to hide from others since it requires the courage to accept themselves as they are with all their flaws.

People said he was born in the wrong period about Murray, who had to fight for major tournament wins against the top three players. However, the player said that he was proud of his career, which he consistently put the same level of passion and commitment into on a day-to-day basis, regardless of how others view it. Murray, whose performance has deteriorated since 2017 due to hip joint and back injuries, still asked his opponents for a handshake every time on the court, even after losses. This is why Murray is a true man who has equally accepted the ‘perfect version of himself’ and the ‘loser in himself.’