MISS Scotland has told The Scotsman she has been giving her former school friend Andy Murray fashion and styling tips.
Katharine Brown, a tennis coach from Murray's home town, Dunblane, said: "Just after he got his hair cut and lost that wild look I told him 'I'm really glad you've done something about that hair. It's looking good'.
"He was a bit taken aback, but
then he said 'Oh, was it that bad? Did you really think so?'"
Miss Brown, who was yesterday promoting safe fake tan at Pure Spa's Ocean Terminal salon in Edinburgh, said she also gave Murray her opinion on his tennis wear. "I told him the Fred Perry clothes were very, very cool, which he was pleased about."
Murray and Brown met as five-year-olds at primary school and have kept in touch ever since.
"Andy's stayed exactly the same. There's no fluff about him, he's intelligent and he's got a great sense of humour."
Commenting on Murray's muscular physique, Brown said: "He's a man now. When you're physically strong you are mentally strong and it shows. He's lasting these big long matches."
Recalling their late primary school days Brown, who has a scholarship with Tennis Scotland, told how she, Murray, his brother and friends had tried to "blag" their way in to a cinema in Stirling when they were under-age.
"I managed to get a ticket but when Andy got to the counter he turned to his brother and said in a loud voice 'Jamie, how old am I supposed to be?'
"You have to remember that he's been playing tennis since he was about eight years old and it has been his entire life. He's in the media spotlight now but we've all known him for years when it was all low-key."
Brown said that Murray was supportive of all his friends' achievements and encouraged them to push themselves.
"When I won Miss Scotland he congratulated me. He was asking me so many questions about what it would lead to and what it could do for me."
Brown who was at Wimbledon to watch Murray get through to the semi-finals said: "The atmosphere was electric. I just totally fell in love with Wimbledon.
"I think Andy's going to win the final. He's doing so well and I'm so totally proud of him. He deserves it," she said.
"I was driving past the tennis courts in Dunblane one morning and there was a huge long queue of boys and girls waiting to get on. Every young kid wants to be him."
The full article contains 444 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
