DOUBLE FAULT; TENNIS ACE ANDY MURRAY HITS OUT IN DEFENCE OF PM.

Byline: Emily Nash

TENNIS ace Andy Murray knows how it feels to be under fire when you just want to get on with doing your job.

And, with that experience behind him, he has revealed he feels for Prime Minister Gordon Brown after meeting him at Downing Street in June this year.

He said: "I came away with the feeling that Mr Brown was a very nice person trying to do his best.

"I didn't feel sorry for him exactly, but he has a tough job."

The world No4 describes meeting the Prime Minister at a charity launch in his updated autobiography, Coming Of Age.

Hesaid:"I couldn't believe he knew so much about what I'd been doing when there was swine flu and the recession to deal with.

"Maybe I'm a little bit more sympathetic on his behalf because I discovered the hard way what it's like to be misinterpreted."

Speaking before he lost his Paris Masters tie yesterday against Radek Stepanek, Murray added: "I'mnot surprised people think I'm grumpy.

"I'm very serious when I'mplaying, but it's just what you do.

"If the people who know me,my friends and family, thought that, then I'd obviously haveabit of a problem.

"But I spend most of the time watching comedy and messing about with the guys that I workwith."

Murray, 22, said he had learned to channel what his hero, tennis legend Andre Agassi, calls his "self-inflicting tortured spirit" on court.

Headded: "Nowadays I don't feel I let my temper get in the way of the game. I feel alot morerelaxed on the court, a lot less fiery."

With six titles under his belt so far this year, and a meteoric rise in the rankings,Murray has every right to feel morerelaxed but he is still wary of saying the wrong thing.

Slammed for an ill-received joke about supporting "anyone but England" during the 2006 World Cup and accused of sexism after commenting that he and an opponent had "played like women", the Dunblane-born star says that he now avoids humour when talking to the press.

Headded: "If I say something that offends people, I'm obviously not happy about that, but if it's something that I believein then that's unfortunate.

"We do more than 100 press conferences a year,you're bound to say something wrong. It's difficult.

"It's a lot less time-consuming and a lot easier to just be serious the whole time and not have that much fun with it, otherwise you spend the whole time having to explain yourself afterwards."

Sitting in the players' lounge at the Palais Omnisports in Paris,Murray is easy-going and reveals a self-deprecating side that has seen him admit to having "the most boring voice in Britain".

Murray,who has not touched alcohol since a disastrous experience in a nightclub six years ago,prefers to spend his downtime watching TVand going to comedy gigs.Heis also a fan of X Factor sensations John and Edward.

Hesaid: "I think they areentertaining and compared to a lot of people that are on those shows, they are performing like they would be doing at a concert, it's just obvious the singing's not so good.

"I try to watch it when I can."

Murray's sense of fun does spill over into his training time, with marathon warm-down sessions of tennis football against his coach and fitness trainers where the losers pick up forfeits.

He said: "If there's a crowd of people watching, you might have to do muscle poses or dancing for a minute.

"I had to wear a pink tracksuit for three days and my fitness trainer had to wear one for a week after a bet last year.

"We were both trying to do our Christmas shopping and walking around Miami and it was really uncomfortable. There's been a lot of bad forfeits like that."

Murray is also very clear about keeping his feet on the ground. He said: "I don't think you ever get used to being famous but I still live a normal life. I've got the same group of friends I've had since I was 14 or 15.

"As long as your friends treat you the same, I don't think you change that much."

Asked what fans can expect from him in 2010,Murray was instantly back in serious tennis mode, replying: "My 110 per cent effort.

"You don't know what's going to happen but I'm obviously going to try to win the big tournaments and improve my ranking."

Marriage can wait

ANDY Murray laughs off suggestions that he might be ready to marry his girlfriend of four years,Kim Sears.

He said:"I don't think so,not for a good few years."

But Murray shares his new pounds 5.4million Surrey mansion with English literature student Kim - pictured with him,left - who is credited with improving his image,not least by convincing him to cut his hair.

He said:"People will still say, 'She's with him for the money or fame'.I don't think that's necessarily the case with Kim. I hope it's not."

And he joked:"Why is she with me? It's a good question."

Murray,who spends 30 weeks ayear on tour,added:"When you do spend time together, you make it work.It's a lot more fun.

"For my age,I think we spend more than enough time with each other to get on well and to make things workout.

"But it does get tiring after a while living in hotels.It's nice to come back and spend a bit of time at home."

Murray added:"Kim's dad is a tennis coach and did a lot of travelling.So she understands how that side of things works, that you're not going to be there all the time.

"She doesn't mind me being away and stuff."

He joked: "That's really helped me. Why she's with me,I don't know,you'd have to ask her."

CAPTION(S):

Coming of Age : The Autobiography by Andy Murray is out now PREMIER LEAGUE: Andy with PM Gordon Brown