Fergus Murphy is a veteran umpire from Dublin, Ireland. He has umpired on the biggest stages of tennis. He began his grand slam career in 1995 and has been in the chair for some of the biggest and most hotly contested matches at tennis’ most prestigious tournaments. Writer Jack Martin caught up with him while he was in Montreal working on the ATP tour.
How did you get into tennis umpiring?
“The Irish tennis scene is small but I was always in Castleknock club in Dublin when I was a kid. 25 hours a day. I ended up on the committee there and I came across the umpiring association. I got myself involved with them when I was still studying at the time to be a barrister. I was writing to everyone trying to get umpiring experience. Bit by bit I umpired bigger and bigger matches. In 95, I said ‘I’ll do it for a year.’ 29 years later I’m still doing it.”
What’s the best thing about umpiring?
“There’s a lot of traveling…
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