Charlie Robertson dreams of being ‘better than Andy Murray’

Ideal preparation, from split-step to hops and slides: good footwork is one of the most important parts of the arsenal of top tennis players.

“I love to dance and that’s my personality,” says Robertson. “If there’s music on in the gym or whatever while I’m playing tennis, I always like to dance.”

But like Murray, Robertson leaves thoughts of Strictly Come Dancing to the mother of former world number one Judy and devotes his life to hitting a tennis ball.

“I think my first few lessons were at Arbroath Tennis Club,” he recalls. “I have a brother and a sister, I’m the youngest, and I just got taken to all their exercise classes.

“I wasn’t actually old enough for the tennis lessons, but I was just brought along and I just started hitting off the tennis wall when I was very little.”

Finally admitted to the lesson, because he turned out to be “pretty good” despite being “too young”, he soon caught the tennis bug.

“And when I saw Andy doing so well at that moment too, winning Wimbledon and stuff like that, I just thought it was really exciting and I’ve just enjoyed it ever since,” he says.

Robertson’s profile rose earlier this month when he reached the semi-finals of the US Open Juniors in New York.

He would lose in straight sets to top seeded and defeated finalist Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, but it led to the inevitable comparisons with Murray, who had won the event twenty years earlier.

“Andy helps me,” he reveals. “We started our relationship from the grass season. He’s just a great role model for me and he’s helped me a lot.

“He was still playing at the time, so I was playing with him and felt like I could ask him questions and he would give his honest advice, which was really helpful. “It means a lot to get it from Andy Murray to belong.”