Murray ‘disliked’ Salmond’s Scottish flag-waving at Wimbledon
Britain’s Andy Murray. AP
LONDON — Andy Murray has revealed he “didn’t like it” when Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond pulled out a Scottish flag to celebrate his historic Wimbledon victory last year, in an interview out Sunday.
Salmond was in the crowd to see Murray beat Novak Djokovic for the title last July, ending a 77-year British wait for a home champion at the London tournament.
To celebrate, Salmond — who was sitting behind British Prime Minister David Cameron in the Royal Box — unfurled a giant blue and white Saltire, despite a ban on large flags at the All England Club.
Murray has long refused to be drawn on his views on Scottish independence ahead of a referendum on splitting from the United Kingdom on September 18.
But he was asked by the Sunday Times if he had met Salmond.
“Yes… he seemed perfectly nice to me but I didn’t like it when he got the Scottish flag up at Wimbledon,” Murray said.
“I started competing for Great Britain when I was 11. A lot of people forget that.”
Wimbledon gets under way on June 23 but the traditional build-up to the Grand Slam starts on the grass courts of London’s Queen’s Club on Monday.
Murray, who parted company with coach Ivan Lendl in March, suffered a brutal, three-set defeat by Rafael Nadal in the French Open semi-finals last week.
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