STRICTLY BUSINESS
Andy Murray tipped for shock career change after British legend announces he will retire from tennis
And he'd be following in his mother's footsteps
ANDY MURRAY has been tipped for a shock career change after announcing his imminent plans to retire from tennis.
The 37-year-old legend made his Wimbledon swansong earlier this month after long-term struggles with injury.
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Murray has now announced that the Paris Olympics will be his LAST tennis tournament.
He is going for gold in both the singles and doubles tournaments this summer, meaning his final game could come on August 4 with the Men's Singles gold medal match.
Now the bookies believe that he could follow in his mum Judy's footsteps by waltzing on to Strictly Come Dancing.
In fact, the two-time Wimbledon champ has been installed as a 7/1 shot to appear on the next series of the hit BBC show.
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Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “All eyes will no doubt be on Andy Murray's next move after the Olympics, and the odds suggest he could be an ace addition to this year's Strictly line-up.”
Murray was heavily backed in 2019 to make an appearance on Strictly but that failed to materialise.
Judy appeared in the 2014 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The tennis coach, 64, was paired with professional dancer Anton du Beke and together they made it through to week eight of the competition, which was Blackpool week.
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Judy and Anton had performed a Viennese Waltz to the Mary Poppins song Let's Go Fly A Kite but found themselves in the bottom two following the public vote.
They were then unanimously voted off the show by the judges.
All time tennis legend says Andy Murray's fitting legacy is making mum Judy's Dunblane tennis centre a reality
Meanwhile, this will be the fifth time that Murray has competed at the Olympics since making his debut at the Beijing Games in 2008.
He has claimed medal glory three times, with the first coming at London 2012, winning gold in the men's singles event and silver in mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson.
Murray successfully defended his title at the Rio Games four years later, making him the first male player to win two Olympic singles titles.
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During his time on the ATP tour, Murray won 46 titles, including three Grand Slam titles, and was only outside of the top ten for one month between July 2008 through to October 2017.
His first Grand Slam came at the US Open in 2012 when he beat Novak Djokovic in the final and he then defeated the same man again to claim his maiden victory at Wimbledon the following year.
Murray had to wait until 2016 to win his second title at SW19 after losing three other major finals in that time span, while then adding the Davis Cup to his trophy cabinet in 2015.
Andy Murray's career timeline
SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era.
After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year.
In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012.
Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court.
But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final.
In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title.
Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open.
But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic.
He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro.
Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 - the first British man to do so in history.
Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson).
He will finish his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings.
And - if he can achieve the perfect fairytale ending, as unlikely as it seems - hopefully another Olympic medal.
Murray has struggled with injuries in the latter stages of his career, fighting back from career-saving hip surgery in 2019.
A back injury forced him to pull out of this year's Wimbledon singles tournament.
His career exploits earned him a knighthood, which he was awarded in 2017 and presented with in 2019.
Murray got married to Kim Sears in 2015, with the pair having four children together.
Murray’s glittering career has earned him an incredible £130m fortune.
Having racked up £50m from prize pots over the years, he has also netted millions away from the court thanks to canny business investments, which include the most luxurious hotel in Scotland.
Since 2019, he’s been sponsored by clothing brand Castore and he launched his clothing line, AMC.
And he knows how to spend his hard-earned cash too, snapping up a stunning collection of supercars.
But he still clung on to his first ever car - his beloved Vokswagen Polo - for 14 years.
He finally traded it in for a bright red Ferrari 430 in 2010, estimated to have set him back £117,000.
The Scottish star swapped the extravagant supercar for an Aston Martin DB9 - just like James Bond - for £200,000 instead.
Murray later bagged a £125,000 BMW i8 after winning the Munich Open - but regifted it to his father.
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In 2016, his sponsorship deal with Jaguar ensured the tennis ace was always traveling in style.
He rolled around in the enviable Jaguar XKR before owning the £66,000 Jaguar I-Pace, arguably a standout in his collection.The tennis legend has also been spotted ferrying his family around in a Porsche Cayenne SUV.