• Tennis

O'Mara following in Murray's footsteps

ESPN staff
October 25, 2010
Judy Murray believes Jonny O'Mara can follow Andy Murray's path to success © Getty Images
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Under the guidance of Andy Murray's mother Judy, Jonny O'Mara is determined to take the same path to success as his hero.

There are stark parallels between Murray and the 15-year-old from Arbroath, who won the British Under 16 Championships in the summer.

"Andy is my inspiration. He is for everyone who picks up a racket in Scotland," O'Mara told The Times. "He comes from a little town just like me. What he's achieved is massive.

"If he can do it from a little town, why can't anyone? I want to work hard for it, I want to be a tennis player, so I'm going to give myself the best chance of being one. I've been looking up to Andy Murray for five years. I have a similar game to him and hopefully I can make it as big as his."

Just as Andy Murray was packed off to the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona at the age of 15 to hone his tennis skills, O'Mara is mulling over the opportunity to move to Munich to train with Niki Pilic - former trainer of Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic amongst others.

However, Judy Murray has warned her charge that it will not be plain sailing if he wants to join her son in the upper echelons of the sport.

"We want to nudge Jonny from his comfort zone because he needs to be in uncomfortable situations and find a way to survive them," she said. "It is dog eat dog and you have to survive. Niki Pilic's academy is full of Germans and Eastern Europeans and Jonny needs to train around like-minded individuals."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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