Charlie Robertson: Once a future farmer, Murray mentee making his mark at US Open

pBriton a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a has stepped into the sun at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a, advancing to his maiden major semi-final in the first Grand Slam tournament since former World No. 1 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-murray/mc10/overview'Andy Murray/arsquo;s retirement. But Draper is not the only Briton making his mark in New York./p

pSeventeen-year-old a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/charlie-robertson/r0k9/overview'Charlie Robertson/a is into the semi-finals of the boysrsquo; singles event and two victories from becoming the first British boysrsquo; singles champion at Flushing Meadows since a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/oliver-golding/gc38/overview'Oliver Golding/a in 2011./p

pldquo;Itrsquo;s obviously more impressive from Jack getting to the semi-finals of the menrsquo;s,rdquo; Robertson told ATPTour.com. ldquo;But Irsquo;m so happy for him. I also hit with him at Queenrsquo;s and he looked like hersquo;s been working so hard and hersquo;s a really nice guy, also. Itrsquo;s just cool to see another Brit thatrsquo;s doing so well. /p

pldquo;I think itrsquo;s just great for everyone in British tennis. For me when people are doing well, you go like, 'I want to get to what hersquo;s like as well'. Itrsquo;s going to be massive for British tennis in a positive way.rdquo;/p

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pRobertson grew up on a farm in the north of Scotland. His older sister, Kirsty (23), and older brother, Harry (21), were in a tennis class. Charlie was too young to participate, but from the age of four he would hit against the wall. His efforts were impressive enough to be placed in the class despite his age and he immediately loved it. But the Scot also enjoyed time at home./p

pldquo;Out of my brother and my sister, I was actually into the farm and the animals,rdquo; Robertson said. ldquo;I used to look after the sheep, thatrsquo;s what I got. I honestly loved it. I think my dad thought I was going to be a farmer, but I just enjoyed sports too much and tennis I loved, so I decided to go for that.rdquo;/p

pAs Robertson improved, it was clear he had to move to the GB National Tennis Academy at the University of Stirling for the best training. /p

pldquo;We had to sell our farm to afford somewhere to stay in Stirling, a home,rdquo; Robertson said. ldquo;From there I kept playing and it was great.rdquo;/p

pThe No. 23 player in the ITF Junior Rankings, Robertson is already one of the best juniors in the world. Unsurprisingly, Murray, who was already a Top 20 player in the PIF ATP Rankings when Robertson was born, was his role model./p

pldquo;Seeing him, a Scotsman do it is so special for me obviously. Being from Scotland, itrsquo;s unbelievable seeing a Scottish guy doing so well. So for me, it was always Andy,rdquo; Robertson said. ldquo;Andyrsquo;s always been my inspiration since I was little and to know that someone can do it from where yoursquo;ve trained and where hersquo;s trained and grown up, itrsquo;s a massive inspiration.rdquo;/p

pThey have grown closer this year. Andyrsquo;s older brother, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jamie-murray/mc81/overview'Jamie Murray/a, is the tournament director at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/london/311/overview'cinch Championships/a and invited Robertson to serve as a hitting partner./p

pldquo;It was quite special. Me and Andy built our relationship there, so that was very special and I also got the time to hit with Alcaraz, which I thought was really nice,rdquo; Robertson said. ldquo;It was only once, but he actually requested me again to hit with him, which was quite cool, but I actually had to go play a tournament myself!rdquo;/p

blockquote class="twitter-tweet"

p lang="en" dir="ltr"a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/charlie-robertson/r0k9/overview'Charlie Robertson/a : the Scottish teenager following in Andyrsquo;s footsteps, heads to New York for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a junior event next month. Hersquo;s ranked 25 in the world and has just spent a week as Andyrsquo;s training partner. br /

Investing in the next generation. ❤️???????????????????????????? a href="https://t.co/Xd6epWYQFi"pic.twitter.com/Xd6epWYQFi/a/p

mdash; judy murray (@JudyMurray) a href="https://twitter.com/JudyMurray/status/1815610022476279861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"July 23, 2024/a/blockquote

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pMurray even had Robertson as a training partner ahead of the Olympics, the final tournament of his career. Andyrsquo;s mother, Judy Murray, wrote: ldquo;Itrsquo;s 20 years since Andy won the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a junior event in 2004 and itrsquo;s great to see him investing in the next generation. No better and quicker way to learn than working alongside someone who has been there and done it.rdquo;/p

prdquo;I canrsquo;t thank the Murray family enough. Theyrsquo;ve given me so much support and I canrsquo;t thank them enough for backing me and backing a Scot. Itrsquo;s really special,rdquo; Robertson said. ldquo;For what hersquo;s already done for tennis and how hersquo;s giving back also now that itrsquo;s done, itrsquo;s amazing for me.rdquo;/p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p