Fergus Murphy is a veteran referee from Dublin, Ireland. He has refereed on the biggest stages of tennis. He began his career at the Grand Slam 1995 and has been on the bench for some of the biggest and hottest matches in tennis’ most prestigious tournaments. Writer Jack Martin caught up with him while he was in Montreal working on it ATP tournament.
How did you get into tennis refereeing?
“The Irish tennis scene is small, but I was always at the Castleknock club in Dublin when I was a kid. 25 hours a day. I ended up on the commission there and came across the referees’ association. I got involved with them when I was still studying to be a lawyer at the time. I was writing to everyone trying to get refereeing experience. Little by little I refereed bigger and bigger matches. IN 95I said ‘I’ll do it for a year.’ 29 years later I’m still doing it.”
What is the best thing about the judge?
“There is a lot of travel, which is a plus and a minus. You get two summers a year. In Australia and Europe and US. But in the end 20 years, we’ve had the best players to ever play this game. I judged Federer from start to finish, Murray from start to finish, Nadal will finish soon and Djokovic we will see. Being involved in that golden age is a massive plus. I was just there.”
“The best thing is adrenaline. You become an adrenaline junkie. You are influencing the match. At some stage, you have to intervene. I’m used to being on edge and very nervous. But it’s kind of a nice feeling.”
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Have you built a relationship with the players?
“A code for referees prevents us from being friends. We are friendly but maintain a professional distance. We use the same canteens as the players on tour, but we won’t be sitting with them for a meal.”
What is your favorite tournament?
“I would say Wimbledon. Not because of history and mystique. But because it is a club built in a suburb. Whereas most of the time, I’m in a purpose-built facility. If you go to Australian or US Open, both grounds were designed for large events. Wimbledon turned into that. Being able to walk into the countryside and mingle with the locals is wonderful.”
What can Irish tennis do to improve?
“When people meet me they say, ‘I never knew the Irish played tennis.’ Some of the reasons are education. We don’t have the main player to copy. Most parents will tell their kids to focus on education and not tennis. If we had a Roger Federer, there would be a peak in attendance. It’s like when we had Stephen Roche in the Tour de France, everyone was cycling. Hopefully we will be lucky and have a good player come out.”
