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Reuters

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Reuters

It is universal that every sports fan has a few idols they follow during their childhood. But once upon a time, even the notable athletes had their favorites growing up. Do you know who three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray looked up to when he was little?

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Recently, Tennis TV conducted a survey asking players who their childhood idols were. In response, Great Britain’s Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie, and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov chose American legend Andre Agassi as the one for them.

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Read More: “Create Champions of Life”: Novak Djokovic Reveals Goals for His ‘Life Project’ Ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020

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Andy Murray was a hardcore fan of Andre Agassi

Contesting currently at the Tokyo Olympics, Andy Murray revealed how much he adored the former World No.1, eight-time Grand Slam champion, and 1996 Olympic gold medal winner Andre Agassi.

“When I was very young, Agassi was the guy that I loved because he was just different. I liked his personality,” Murray said. “He was the guy that I kind of first enjoyed watching and wanted to emulate and copy and things.”

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Furthermore, the record two-time Olympic gold medallist mentioned how closely he followed the American. Funnily enough, Murray even tried Agassi’s hairdo.

“I used to have his clothes. When he had the ponytail, my parents got me a cap that had a fake ponytail attached to it. So, he was the first guy who… I wanted to be like him,” Murray added.

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Following Murray, the 25-year-old Englishman Norrie expressed his early likeness for Agassi. He said, “Andre Agassi was my favorite player, and I think he had some amazing matches, such a clean ball striker. Yeah, just cool to watch.”

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Lastly, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov added that he loved the American legend duo, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

“Those were my probably favorite, I think, of all time,” he said.

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Watch this story: Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Others Kids on Court

Murray looking to improve world record in Tokyo Olympics

Notably, Murray has been the Olympics men’s singles tennis champion since 2012. Hence, if he pulls off a victory once again, he would be a champion of the Games for more than a decade.

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Additionally, the format of the event is now cut short to best-of-three matches. Without a doubt, it has slightly upped Murray’s chances to retain the gold.

From July 24 onwards, the main event will begin. Murray will face Canadian youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime in the opening round.

Can he complete his Olympics hat trick this year?

Also More: Tokyo Olympics 2020 Draw and Bracket: Novak Djokovic Handed an Easy Path, Daniil Medvedev Faces a Tough Road

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Purav Joshi

1,357 Articles

Purav Joshi is a Senior Tennis author at EssentiallySports. Having a degree in Films, Television and Media Production, he guided his passion for writing and journalism into the sport of aces and rallies. With over 2 years of experience as a copywriter, Purav has authored over 1000 tennis articles. While the world dreads the departure of the Big Three, Purav is excited for the next generation to take over the mantle of the sport. He enjoys seeing Novak Djokovic dominate the sport and hopes to see him conquer all records. Apart from the world of tennis, Purav is fond of reading poetry and playing soccer.

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