Story highlights
Murray, Federer to play in exhibition match
Glasgow to host "Andy Murray Live 2017"
World No. 1 to consider taking longer breaks
World No. 1 Andy Murray had one piece of advice for Roger Federer when he revealed the 18-time grand slam champion will play in Scotland for the first time this year.
“Don’t try the deep-fried Mars bars.”
In announcing that the Swiss star would be his guest at an exhibition event in Glasgow, Murray warned his tennis rival against sampling the sweet dish invented in his homeland.
“I tried one last year for the first time and it was horrific,” said the Wimbledon champion, smiling. “Stay away from them.”
Deep frying a Mars bar was invented in Scotland in the early 1990s, and by the beginning of this century the snack’s reputation was such that it was mentioned on the Jay Leno Show in 2004.
Speaking in east London at the launch of “Andy Murray Live 2017,” the Olympic champion said it would be “incredible” for tennis fans in Scotland to watch Federer, 35, play at the SSE Hydro on November 7.
“All of us involved in this event are very, very lucky that he’s agreed to do it. I’m really looking forward to it,” added the 29-year-old, whose first “Andy Murray Live” last year raised over £300,000 ($375,000) for charity.
“He’s just really popular everywhere. He said a few years ago that he wants to try to go to places where he’s not been so that all his fans can watch him.”
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‘Incredible what Federer did’
As well as a singles match between Murray and Federer, this year’s event will also feature the Scot and his brother Jamie taking on former British No. 1 Tim Henman and showman Mansour Bahrami in a doubles match. All proceeds will go to charity.
Having offered culinary advice, Murray said he would also learn from Federer’s Australian Open triumph and consider taking longer breaks from the sport.
Despite having not played competitively for six months as he recovered from injury, Federer extended his record tally of grand slam titles in Melbourne last month, beating Rafael Nadal – another player whose season was hampered by injury last year – in the final.
Murray, by contrast, who had a busy but successful end to 2016, was defeated in the fourth round by world No. 50 Mischa Zverev, the lowest-ranked player the Briton had lost to at a major since 2006.
“It is incredible what he (Federer) did in Australia after such a long break,” said Murray, who ended 2016 as the world No. 1 following five title wins between October and December.
“In tennis we play so much for a lot of the year that actually sometimes coming into events fresh can also be a huge advantage.
“Roger and Rafa were both coming back after a pretty significant period of time out and they both played extremely well, so maybe that’s something that we can all learn from.”
Murray insisted that he did not regard this year’s early exit from the Australian Open, where he was regarded as favorite following defending champion Novak Djokovic’s second-round loss, as a missed opportunity.
“The end of last season was tough,” he told CNN. “I played a lot of tennis in a short period of time. I needed to reflect on that.
“I’ve never been in that position before, competing in the latter stages of nearly every tournament for four months.
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“A lot of people think Roger is the best player of all time. Rafa is also one of the best players of all time and Stan Wawrinka was also in my section of the draw. Had I got through the fourth round, Roger, followed by Wawrinka followed by Rafa would’ve been tough anyway.”
