The new flex: Hosting your own tournament

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The new flex: Hosting your own tournament

The Murray family is honored in Scotland, only weeks after Nadal held his own event.

by_tagVan Sias

published_tag Sep 22, 2019

Signature shoes? That’s a pretty sure sign you’ve made it.

Your name on a racquet? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Having your name on a tournament? Now that’s flexing on a whole different level.

This week, the Murray Trophy in Glasgow, Scotland, is taking place on the ATP Challenger Tour. Pro tennis at that level has been played in the city twice before, but this is the first year for the tournament renamed to honor one of Scotland’s greatest sports families, the Murrays: mom Judy and sons Jamie and Andy, who just so happen to be two of the best tennis players of their generation in their respective doubles and singles disciplines.

Big brother Jamie has been hands-on with the tournament since it was announced: from lending his expertise on what makes a successful event to competing in the doubles draw with John-Patrick Smith to sharing court time with the kids.

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The Murrays aren’t the only active players out there with their own eponymous events. Just a few weeks ago, the Rafa Nadal Open, another Challenger tournament, was held at the world No. 2’s tennis academy. Australian Bernard Tomic won the first singles prize last year, while NextGen standout Emil Ruusuvuori—who just beat Dominic Thiem in Davis Cup—captured the title this year. This year’s edition was notable for a certain player entry: Andy Murray received a wild card as he tries to build his ranking back up.

Nadal was more than accommodating to his old friend.

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It looks like Andy and Rafa’s peers in the “Big 4”—Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic—need to catch up.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias