The day after Andy Murray won a place in the quarter finals for the French Open, John Brown proudly announce that the tennis star has given an exclusive interview to My VIP magazine!

The tennis champion is famously protective of his personal life, so John Brown Media and its client Pets at Home were delighted when Andy Murray agreed to be photographed with his beloved pets, border terriers Rusty and Maggie May for the cover of My VIP magazine – the customer magazine for Pets at Home, published by John Brown Media.

When bought or picked up in store, My VIP adds colour to the shopping trip. It's a fun, insightful part of the VIP loyalty scheme, which allows readers to get the best treatment and rewards for their pet, as well as raising funds for animal charities. This altruistic side of the magazine is reflected in big name stars like Andy Murray being were more than happy to be the cover star for such a charitable title. But it is really the cover celeb's pets that are the stars!

“I do love just being at home with the dogs,” Andy says. “And if I’ve had a bad match, they’re a great comfort. My family had always had bigger dogs, such as Labradors and retrievers. But they’re really great dogs – I absolutely love them to bits, and they have a lot of personality.”

One place Andy won’t take his pets, though, is to matches and training sessions. While both dogs have been on the side of the tennis court a couple of times, they both love chasing tennis balls too much to be allowed courtside. “Rusty is a tennis ball destroyer and he gets through a lot of them,” says Andy. “Maggie is a lot gentler with toys and things. Even though she’s seven years old, she still plays a lot and I like that. Having Rusty around the house has been good for Maggie May – he helps keep her young and they play with each other indoors all the time.”

Andy is also keen to do more work with animal organisations, on top of his ambassadorial projects with WWF and United for Wildlife, and to fulfil a few personal animal-related ambitions, too. “I find animal charity projects fascinating and a lot of fun,” says Andy. “I would also love to go on safari – that’s something I’ve never done – and it would be amazing to go into the jungle.”

For now, though, it’s more training, more travelling and more tennis. Andy already has this year’s French Open in his sights. We’re quite sure Maggie May and Rusty will be in front of the TV set, barking him on.

The interview has also garnered attention from the UK national press, appearing in The Metro online and the Scottish Daily Mail, and was quoted in The Independent!