Andy Murray has no personality, right? No sense of humour? Turns out, that’s all utter nonsense.
The British tennis great has received criticism throughout his career for not opening up enough or having a big enough personality, supposedly failing to relate to the public as a result. But with his new documentary ‘Andy Murray: Resurfacing’, released on Amazon Prime on Friday, those criticisms of yesteryear have well and truly been put to bed, in large part down to the touching relationship he has with his physio.
This emotional film allows us an insight into the Scot’s life as he attempts to make a monumental comeback from the hip injury that has blighted his entire career.
We get to see the build-up to the tears at the 2019 Australian Open, the tournament he believed would be his final one as a professional athlete, before we watch him realise he just couldn’t let go.
The battling spirit on display from the Dunblane product has to be seen to be believed. His ridiculous dedication to the game is what drives him on even when it appears there is no way back. His wife, Kim, even told him to call time on his career at Christmas when the former world number one rang her wanting advice.
Yet he couldn’t hide his love for the sport. Despite everything... the pain, the tears, the heartbreak, he simply couldn’t say one final goodbye to tennis.
During the documentary we watch on as Murray experiences the whole spectrum of emotions. We watch on as he has gruesome surgery on his hip involving a hammer, and watch him limp around the tennis court, almost unable to walk.
But the shining light of the entire film is physio Shane Annun, whose relationship with the tennis star is nothing short of a bromance. The cuddles between the pair, the jokes they share, DH Lawrence couldn’t even pen a bond as deep as the one that these two share.
In one particularly touching scene as Murray is recovering from his second hip operation, Shane, affectionately known as ‘Slender’, is seen tying Andy’s laces. "It's ironic because he's not particularly slender," giggles Murray to himself.
“The brilliant thing about having a sore hip after this operation is that I can hug Shane and he can’t get away from me because otherwise, he’d hurt my hip. Like I can do that [hugs Shane] and he can’t force his way out of my hug.”
This affection is shared throughout the whole of the film but particularly when Murray is at his lowest points in his bid to recover from his operation. Despite the uphill struggle, the pair still find the time to lift each other up with their jokes.
“Come and hold my hand. I love it when you hold my hand,” Murray says during some painful stretches. Although the banter appears to be mainly one-way traffic, Shane takes it well and often can tell an entire story with just his facial expressions.
When Murray jibes that “Shane was saying off the record that he really wants me to come back to playing so that it’ll make him look good,” he gives one particularly devastating look straight into the camera lens.
The pair are just brilliant to watch together and you can tell there is that underlying sense of affection which runs deep after the struggles they have been through together.
Having seen more into the life of Andy Murray during this documentary, you get the sense that it is the people in his team, including Shane, that keep him motivated and grounded.
A sensational and gripping watch, this is everything you want from a documentary. This will obliterate the negative views some people hold of the three-time Grand Slam champion. Nice one, Shane. And you too, Andy.
The Sportsman Documentary Rating: 8.7/10