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.”
That close-up experience – and having watched Murray’s Grand Slam successes from afar – has fuelled Robertson’s belief that he can “become as good as him if not better”.
The Scot, who was raised in Forfar, will be aiming to further add to his own growing reputation at the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in China in the middle of October, by which time he will have turned 18.
Then, from January, he will begin his professional journey in the senior ranks in which fellow Scotsman Jake Fearnley has just broken into the world top 100.
“I have to restart again in the men’s circuit – my 10th in the world in the juniors will not mean anything anymore and I will have to restart again, which is exciting,” Robertson says.
“The ultimate goal is to be a top 100 ATP player. Going into the pro circuit, now that is everyone’s goal and I think, as soon as you get to that top 100, you want to push for even more.
“Everyone wants to be number one in the world – why not? You have got to dream big, so that is the goal.”
While the ambition is clear, Robertson accepts that taking the first few big steps towards it will not be cheap on the Futures and Challengers tour merry-go-round.
“It is definitely not a cheap sport, tennis,” he says. “I guess it brings you to reality, but this is my decision to do it and I have just got to believe in myself that I can make a living out of tennis, which is what I dreamed about when I was a little kid.
“When you are playing these Futures and Challengers, you are giving out more than you are bringing in. It is going to be very challenging, but getting support is going to be key to reaching the top.
“I see it as an exciting journey now, but I know it is not going to be easy. I am going to have to work a lot to reach the top and I think everyone in the men’s game is fighting for their mortgage. I am looking forward to it.”
