The players at Wimbledon know they will be put through the mangle when they appear in front of the world’s media in the interview room – we are fierce, us hacks – but Andy Murray had no idea what he was about face when he took on the BBC’s most intrepid interrogator.

 

Muzz had just marmalised Blaz Rola (he of the best name in tennis) for the loss of just two games and had eased himself into the third round. And then he was thrown to the lions. Or, to be more precise, he was thrown to Hacker T. Dog, a border terrier. Until very recently, Hacker was a presenter on CBBC – known as Cbeebies – the BBC’s children’s channel. He’s from Wigan, is Hacker, and they breed them tough up there. And it was all the fault of wimbledon.com.

 

Now, for those of you who live in London or outside the UK (same difference), let me explain: Wigan is in “The North” and to paraphrase L.P. Hartley and his opening line in The Go-Between (it’s a novel and a film…. Google it, people): “The north is a foreign country; they say things differently there”. Muzz was in for a novel experience….