The stars have landed in Aberdeen ready to do battle.
Grand Slam champions Jamie Murray and Sir Andy Murray have arrived in Aberdeen with the rest of the Team Scotland players ahead of taking on Team England in Schroders Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England.
“I think for us this is bringing tennis to people who wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to see it,” Jamie Murray, who is both competitor and tournament director, said. “It’s a chance to grow the sport and I think if we want to capitalize on the interest that Andy has certainly created for tennis in this country over the last 15, 20 years with everything that he has done, then we need to have live events to be able to do that.
“So, people can come and witness it on their doorstep first hand. That’s a huge part of growing the sport.”
Official travel partner for the tournament, Loganair is responsible for flying the players to and from Aberdeen. They touched down this morning (Tuesday 20th December) on a chartered flight, ahead of the much anticipated event taking place at Aberdeen’s P&J Live Arena December 21-22.
The competition, which was created by Jamie Murray in response to the lack of tournament tennis during the COVID-19 pandemic, is now one of the UK’s leading domestic tennis events. Schroders Battle of the Brits – Scotland versus England, which was originally due to be held in December 2021, will be the fourth tournament in the series.
“All of the players that are here are very competitive. You’ve got myself, Jamie, Neal and Joe have all been number one in the world,” Andy Murray said. “It’s a little bit like the Laver Cup; it was an event that was seen as being an exhibition, but when you get there and you’re playing in front of a big crowd and you’re surrounded by the people that you’re surrounded by, it whets your competitive instincts.
“All of the players will be giving their best to win the matches. That’s also one of the reasons for having the event here in the North of Scotland is that since we’ve been playing most of the Davis Cup ties that we’ve played in like Glasgow or in England, and this is giving people here the opportunity to watch top level tennis.”