Hot air! Andy Murray and the interviews that backfire

We’ve all heard it many, many times after a moment of sporting triumph or disaster: “So tell us, how does it feel to…”

This much maligned and oft-criticised opening gambit in a head-to-head interrogation with an out-of-breath athlete may appear to be a rather bland and formulaic enquiry.

The “I could do that” brigade pipe up with their usual indignation and certain sections of the print media sneer at the broadcaster’s lack of depth while furiously scribbling down the competitor’s subsequent response. In fact, it simply serves as an effective means of eliciting an emotional and personal response from your subject.

I don’t see why I should get told off after that – I fought as hard as I could. I chased every single ball down. I came through in an incredibly tough match. Andy Murray

In most of these immediate post-event scenarios the interviewer is merely the conduit through which the viewer or listener can share the thoughts of a competitor.

Hairdryer treatment

Problems arise when the interviewer decides to become the centre of attention and tries to be too clever – as happened with the BBC’s Garry Richardson’s attempt to introduce Sir Alex Ferguson into his chat with Andy Murray following the British number one’s epic five-set quarter-final battle with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.

He suggested that Murray might get the equivalent of Sir Alex’s famous “hairdryer treatment” from his coach, Ivan Lendl.

He said: “Sir Alex Ferguson was in the royal box today watching you and he has been known to go into the dressing room after matches and give his players a bit of the hairdryer treatment. Will Lendl say some things to you, Andy, to sort of gee you up? Or do you not need that or do you know it all yourself?”

“I don’t see why I should get told off after that – I fought as hard as I could. I chased every single ball down. I came through in an incredibly tough match,” responded Murray, looking unimpressed.

Richardson swiftly moved on to Murray’s “character” and called the win a “fantastic achievement”. In true Murray style, the player bluffly responded “Yeah, it is.”

‘I don’t give a s***’

This is not to say that the interviewer should give everyone an easy ride, far from it. Obviously controversial or contentious issues need to be debated and ill-conceived notions challenged. But rushing in with a sledgehammer is not always the best approach, as a reporter found out when he quizzed the ever irascible John McEnroe (pictured) during a press conference after a match at Wimbledon in the 1980s: “I thought your double fault count was way too high out there.”

“I don’t give a s*** what you think about my double faults.”

The recent trend of using ex-competitors as interviewers can be equally counter-productive as some seem to view themselves as cheerleaders or apologists steering clear of genuine issues for fear of tarnishing the sport through which they made their names. Quite apart from that, some of them tend to talk in over-excited gibberish: “Wow, twenty oh seven, a new PB. Great bend.”

The problem with many sports stars is that that is precisely the kind of language they speak and it can be difficult to get them to react in layman’s terms. Their own line of work generally entail levels of concentration and single mindedness that are way beyond the understanding of us mere mortals and this can often preclude an effusive reaction to a line of questioning. A reasonably well thought out enquiry can result in a less than stunning answer. In his pre-Murray playing days, Ivan Lendl was once asked, somewhat long-windedly, about what his mental processes were at key points during a match.

“Ivan, you’re two sets to one and 4-2 down; it’s 15-40 and you’re serving. Could you give us an insight into what exactly is going through your mind at the precise moment you toss the ball up from the baseline.”

“Get the first serve in.”

Don’t be too hard on garry richardson he had a bad day and he apologised afterwards

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) July 3, 2013

‘We’ve all been there’

Unfortunately we have all been there and the temptation to appear chummy with your subject or display your credentials sometimes overtakes any rational judgment.

During the Sydney Olympics in 2000 I recall interviewing Britain’s leading archery medal hope Alison Williamson: “So Alison, four years of training and preparation, sweat and sacrifice all comes down to that little red circle in the middle of the target.”

“It’s yellow.”

To be fair, she laughed off the incident but that’s not always the case. One of the arts of being an interviewer is to gauge the mood of your subject based, not just on what has just happened, but what their general demeanour is in such situations.

One does shudder though to imagine what their next encounter will be like after the semi finals.

I must confess I have never met Andy Murray but from what I can gather his relationship with the media is guarded at best. It seems doubtful that he would warm to the prospect of forming a comedy double act with his interrogator and so the key would be to keep the questions short and straight. His response on Wednesday left the viewers in no doubt as to how he felt about the interview, although it is to his credit that he found time to tweet a conciliatory message to the under-fire Richardson.

One does shudder, though, to imagine what their next encounter will be like after the semi finals.

Whatever happens, it won’t be as bad as the moment during an international athletics event a few years ago when a TV reporter tried to hijack the limelight by deciding she would present her country’s 4 x 100 relay team with a bottle of champagne during the interview if they won the race.

The quartet, who were hot favourites, duly finished second and wore faces like thunder as they trudged towards the camera. Undaunted, she handed over the bubbly regardless although, understandably, they reacted as if she had presented them with the contents of her cat’s litter tray.

At least she didn’t make matters worse by asking “how does it feel?”

Follow John Anderson on Twitter @GreatFaceRadio. His updated book A Great Face For Radio comes out on 1 August