Andy Murray is annoyed that his new £1m-plus shirt sponsorship, which is said to be among the sport's richest ever logo-patch deals, has been made public. The 19-year-old Scot began to wear the Highland Spring patch on the left sleeve, as well as an expression of misgiving on his face when talking about it, for the first time here at the Qatar Open.
"Money to me is definitely not the most important thing and I'm just a little bit annoyed that the whole thing got out about how much money I'm getting," Murray said. "Then people start talking about my other contracts and how much I'm getting, and it's difficult.
"It's supposed to be a private thing. The prize money I can kind of understand, but the sponsorship deals I don't think should be made public. I don't know exactly how it got out. It's quite a difficult thing. I don't feel like I show off because I've made some money."
The world No1 has become accustomed to this; Murray has not. His attitude is not dissimilar to that of Roger Federer, who has worked hard at maintaining a down-to-earth persona while showered with enormous wealth. "It's unbelievable to me that people want to give me that sort of money just to wear a patch on my shirt," Murray added. "I try and stay the same as I was when I was younger. I don't go out and buy flash clothes or big houses. It is difficult to keep your mind on tennis but I'm looking forward to trying to focus on that and not the money side of things because that's not the reason I play."