Murray: shouts of ‘C’mon Tim!’ just aren’t funny

It's the joke that always gets a laugh out of Wimbledon's genteel crowd, but Andy Murray has made it very clear that he fails to see the funny side when people shout 'C'mon Tim!' during one of his matches.
 
Ever since the Scot took over Tim Henman's mantel as British number one, home crowds have been 'humorously' shouting out the phrase that came to define his predecessor's Wimbledon appearances. As Murray prepares for today's third-round match against Ivan Ljubicic, he regrets that this year is no different.
 
"We were talking about it before my first match," Murray said yesterday, "asking how long it would be before the first 'Come on Tim'. I said, 'Within the first game'. It came four minutes in."

Murray went on: "It happens every match, three or four times. I do not find it particularly amusing."
 
His dislike of the joke may be because it references a particular sensitivity in the 24-year-old Scot's career – his failure to win over English crowds. Henman was English through and through – privately educated, clean shaven, mild mannered – while Murray has made no secret of believing he is Scottish first and British second.
 
The result, despite his considerably more impressive Grand Slam record, is that Murray remains less loved by Wimbledon than the perennial nearly-man Henman. Even if he wins the competition this year, it is unlikely Henman Hill will be replaced by Murray Mound as the favoured nickname for the grassy rise outside Centre Court.

Henman, for his part, is keen to distance himself from the issue. "I've said more times than I care to remember that it's not a popularity contest," he said.
 
"I don't think people are very good with change. I think people had got comfortable with and accustomed to me and the support I had and everything that went with it, and then Andy came along and people were thinking that he was a different character.

"People have been taking their time to understand what he's about and who he is." ·