Murray’s ‘proper dad energy’ in light of Draper’s eagerness made for an LOL-worthy viral moment.
Great Britain booked the eighth and final spot in November’s Davis Cup Finals quarterfinals thanks to a dramatic doubles victory by Dan Evans and Neal Skupski, who saved four match points and won a third-set tiebreak against France’s Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the deciding doubles match at Manchester’s AO Arena,
To the victors go the spoils, and 21-year-old Jack Draper, who chipped in a point in a crucial 2-1 win for the hosts against Australia earlier in the week, was basking in the glorious aftermath even hours later.
Andy 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/MgJs67XhtH
— Thiago (@shapovalover_) September 18, 2023
A video posted by Andy Murray, who also played a key role for the British team in the group stage, to his Instagram story Sunday showed the former world No. 1 driving his 21-year-old teammate home from the tie while Draper sang the famous chorus of The Proclaimers’ hit, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” while chugging what appeared to be a beer.
Murray wore a good-natured frown, and later, was caught flipping the middle finger at the youngster. He captioned the clip: “Kids these days … three and a half hours of this on the way home,” with an eyeroll emoji.
The clip received rave reviews on social media, both for Draper’s youthful exuberance and Murray’s “proper dad energy.”
Andy 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/MgJs67XhtH
“Murray with the face of a man who will never complain about his kids making noise in the car again,” another joked.
On the court, Draper also got to experience the gamut of Davis Cup emotions when he was a 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(4) winner over Thanasi Kokkinakis in his Davis Cup debut on Wednesday.
“For my Davis Cup debut, there’s nothing better than that,” Draper said in his post-match press conference.
“[Captain] Leon [Smith] told me a couple of days ago that he wanted me to be out there and that he believed in me and from there, we didn’t speak much about it–I prepared well, trained well and probably didn’t think about it until about an hour before the match.
“When I got out there, with all the people supporting me, it felt amazing. It’s really great fun, especially being part of a team because that’s something we don’t get to do a lot. I’m so excited to be a part of this team, it’s amazing.”
Great Britain won that tie 2-1, and ultimately went 3-0 in Group B. (It also beat Switzerland, 2-1, thanks in part to Murray’s singles win over Leandro Riedi.)