He could have perhaps shown Raygun a dance step or two at the Paris Olympics, but instead Charlie Robertson is concentrating his fancy footwork on becoming “as good, if not better” than fellow Scot and “amazing role model” Andy Murray on the tennis court.
Ranked 10th in the world junior rankings after progress to this season’s US Open semi-finals, the early signs are promising for the 17-year-old Dundonian as he tells BBC Scotland: “You have got to dream big.”
Like many a talented young athlete, Robertson “would do so many different sports” – trying his hand at rugby, football and golf.
More surprising perhaps is his revelation that: “I actually did a bit of dancing when I was younger as well – street dance.”
Ideal preparation considering, from split-step to hops and slides, good footwork is one of the most important parts of the armoury of top tennis players.
“I love to dance and that is my personality,” Robertson says. “If music is on in the gym or whatever during tennis, I always like to dance.”
However, like Murray, Robertson is leaving thoughts of Strictly Come Dancing to the former world number one’s mother, Judy, and dedicating his life to hitting a tennis ball.
“I think my first couple of classes were at Arbroath Tennis club,” he recalls. “I have a brother and sister, I am the youngest, and I just got brought to all their sports classes.
“I actually wasn’t old enough for the tennis classes, but I was just brought along and I just started hitting off the tennis wall when I was really little.”
Finally allowed into class, because he turned out to be “pretty good” despite still being “too young”, he quickly caught the tennis bug.
“And seeing Andy at that point was doing so well also, winning Wimbledon and stuff like that, I just found it really exciting and have just loved it since then,” he says.
Robertson’s profile soared earlier this month when he reached the semi-finals of the US Open Juniors in New York.
He would lose in straight sets to top seed and beaten finalist Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, but it sparked the inevitable comparisons with Murray, who had won the event two decades earlier.
“Andy helps me,” he reveals. “We started our relationship from the grass season. He is just an amazing role model for me and he has been a great help to my game.
“He was still playing at that point, so I was hitting with him and felt I could ask him questions and he would give his honest advice, which was really helpful, and to hear it from Andy Murray means a lot.”
