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| Wimbledon 2013: Murray conquers Djokovic and sets the nation's heart aglow | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| In the end, inside a giddy, sun-bleached and genuinely adoring Centre Court, it felt like it was all worth the wait. Andy Murray is Wimbledon champion, ending that oft-mentioned 77-year hiatus since the last time a British man lifted tennis's most alluring prize, and in the process scaling one of the more vertiginous sporting Everests. It is a genuinely gold-standard achievement for the man from Dunblane, given weight not just by the burden of history and the folkish annual summer romance of Wimbledon itself, but by the fact he is competing in one of the great periods of elite men's tennis. | In the end, inside a giddy, sun-bleached and genuinely adoring Centre Court, it felt like it was all worth the wait. Andy Murray is Wimbledon champion, ending that oft-mentioned 77-year hiatus since the last time a British man lifted tennis's most alluring prize, and in the process scaling one of the more vertiginous sporting Everests. It is a genuinely gold-standard achievement for the man from Dunblane, given weight not just by the burden of history and the folkish annual summer romance of Wimbledon itself, but by the fact he is competing in one of the great periods of elite men's tennis. |
| Quite where Murray's Wimbledon win will rest alongside the great individual British sporting feats of the post-war years is a matter for interminable debate. But for now such comparison can be happily swept to one side in favour of simply savouring the glow of a wonderfully focused 6-4 7-5 6-4 defeat of the world No1 Novak Djokovic on a sweltering Centre Court. | Quite where Murray's Wimbledon win will rest alongside the great individual British sporting feats of the post-war years is a matter for interminable debate. But for now such comparison can be happily swept to one side in favour of simply savouring the glow of a wonderfully focused 6-4 7-5 6-4 defeat of the world No1 Novak Djokovic on a sweltering Centre Court. |
| In the moment of victory Murray dropped his racket and turned, mouth agape, towards the nearest section of the crowd – by happy coincidence also the press box – before crumpling to his knees on Centre Court, overcome at the end point of a gruellingly ascetic, occasionally obsessive journey towards an unassailable career high. Even in the moment of triumph Murray was still agreeably Murray, scaling the commentary box roof and hugging – not his mum or his girlfriend – but his coach, the laconically unsmiling Ivan Lendl. There were no tears in his post-match speech as there had been in defeat by Roger Federer in last year's final, just a genuinely affectionate moment of communion with a Centre Court augmented by an A-List roster of carpetbagging VIPs, among them David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond waving a comically vast – and strictly non-U in the royal box – saltire. | In the moment of victory Murray dropped his racket and turned, mouth agape, towards the nearest section of the crowd – by happy coincidence also the press box – before crumpling to his knees on Centre Court, overcome at the end point of a gruellingly ascetic, occasionally obsessive journey towards an unassailable career high. Even in the moment of triumph Murray was still agreeably Murray, scaling the commentary box roof and hugging – not his mum or his girlfriend – but his coach, the laconically unsmiling Ivan Lendl. There were no tears in his post-match speech as there had been in defeat by Roger Federer in last year's final, just a genuinely affectionate moment of communion with a Centre Court augmented by an A-List roster of carpetbagging VIPs, among them David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond waving a comically vast – and strictly non-U in the royal box – saltire. |
| "Winning Wimbledon is the pinnacle of tennis," Murray said afterwards, still in something of a daze a good half hour after the final point. "I worked so hard in that last game. It's the hardest few points I've had to play in my life. I don't know how it will change my life. I hope not. I hope not too much. But the atmosphere today was different to what I've experienced in the past." | "Winning Wimbledon is the pinnacle of tennis," Murray said afterwards, still in something of a daze a good half hour after the final point. "I worked so hard in that last game. It's the hardest few points I've had to play in my life. I don't know how it will change my life. I hope not. I hope not too much. But the atmosphere today was different to what I've experienced in the past." |
| And so with a performance of unstinting focus from this wonderfully self-made athlete, one of the outstanding omissions in British sport's modern history has been filled. Perhaps Fred Perry, so often dug up and marched about the place over the past few years as a kind of courtly reproach to successive generations of underachievement, may finally be allowed to rest easy again, gratefully re-consigned to the Wimbledon museum. | And so with a performance of unstinting focus from this wonderfully self-made athlete, one of the outstanding omissions in British sport's modern history has been filled. Perhaps Fred Perry, so often dug up and marched about the place over the past few years as a kind of courtly reproach to successive generations of underachievement, may finally be allowed to rest easy again, gratefully re-consigned to the Wimbledon museum. |
| Although, this being Wimbledon, it had to be a bit painful. With Murray two sets and a break of serve up and the world No1 strangely error-prone, it seemed briefly he might win at a canter, or at least without the expected Centre Court paroxysms. Not so fast. Djokovic, though, is nothing if not resilient and the Serb rallied to go 4-2 ahead, pulling himself up to his full champion's height, and drawing the first anxious, quavering clamour around Centre Court's steeply banked gunmetal green bowl. | Although, this being Wimbledon, it had to be a bit painful. With Murray two sets and a break of serve up and the world No1 strangely error-prone, it seemed briefly he might win at a canter, or at least without the expected Centre Court paroxysms. Not so fast. Djokovic, though, is nothing if not resilient and the Serb rallied to go 4-2 ahead, pulling himself up to his full champion's height, and drawing the first anxious, quavering clamour around Centre Court's steeply banked gunmetal green bowl. |
| Murray replied with a surge of irresistibly forceful baseline tennis, to go to 5-4 and two sets up and just a service game away from the championship. Centre Court erupted with genuinely unconfined excitement for the first time as, after letting slip three championship points, Murray finally took the match to a great whumping wave of noise as Djokovic hit TO THE NET at the last. And in part, as Murray staggered about indiscriminately high-fiving at the end, there was a sense that this has also been something of a rather mannered love story, at its centre Murray and that prim, capricious, but in the end compliantly adorable Wimbledon crowd. Throughout the past fortnight the crowd has been a force at his back. And really there is no debate now. He is utterly adored in SW19. One statue – he has the Olympics too, remember – may not be enough | Murray replied with a surge of irresistibly forceful baseline tennis, to go to 5-4 and two sets up and just a service game away from the championship. Centre Court erupted with genuinely unconfined excitement for the first time as, after letting slip three championship points, Murray finally took the match to a great whumping wave of noise as Djokovic hit TO THE NET at the last. And in part, as Murray staggered about indiscriminately high-fiving at the end, there was a sense that this has also been something of a rather mannered love story, at its centre Murray and that prim, capricious, but in the end compliantly adorable Wimbledon crowd. Throughout the past fortnight the crowd has been a force at his back. And really there is no debate now. He is utterly adored in SW19. One statue – he has the Olympics too, remember – may not be enough |
| Centre Court, of course, was packed from the start, standing to give both Murray and Djokovic an opening ovation of genuine warmth. The opening points passed in a blizzard of high quality baseline slugging as Murray attacked the Djokovic serve and after 22 brain-manglingly intense minutes the British No1 got his first little nudge in front, breaking serve to go 2-1 up. Centre Court gulped. Was it all going to be like this? At the same stage in the women's final the previous day Marion Bartoli was serving for the first set. | Centre Court, of course, was packed from the start, standing to give both Murray and Djokovic an opening ovation of genuine warmth. The opening points passed in a blizzard of high quality baseline slugging as Murray attacked the Djokovic serve and after 22 brain-manglingly intense minutes the British No1 got his first little nudge in front, breaking serve to go 2-1 up. Centre Court gulped. Was it all going to be like this? At the same stage in the women's final the previous day Marion Bartoli was serving for the first set. |
| Djokovic broke back but Murray broke again in the seventh game, earning the first genuinely unrestrained cheers and sealing the first set to a pistol shot of applause. And make no mistake: Murray was up against a genuinely great champion here, a formidable combination of extreme mental toughness – oh, that unflinching, unbreakable, titanium-hulled Djokovic temperament – and captivating physical agility. Where Murray's transition towards elite athlete-dom has involved a bulking up and thickening out to his current Terminator-Scale physique, Djokovic's ascent coincided with a bulking down, accentuating his scuttling, sliding speed and extraordinary lateral reach. Where Murray has a clump to his movements around court, those vast ankles – the ankles of three men – battering the Wimbledon scrub, Djokovic moves without leaving a mark. | Djokovic broke back but Murray broke again in the seventh game, earning the first genuinely unrestrained cheers and sealing the first set to a pistol shot of applause. And make no mistake: Murray was up against a genuinely great champion here, a formidable combination of extreme mental toughness – oh, that unflinching, unbreakable, titanium-hulled Djokovic temperament – and captivating physical agility. Where Murray's transition towards elite athlete-dom has involved a bulking up and thickening out to his current Terminator-Scale physique, Djokovic's ascent coincided with a bulking down, accentuating his scuttling, sliding speed and extraordinary lateral reach. Where Murray has a clump to his movements around court, those vast ankles – the ankles of three men – battering the Wimbledon scrub, Djokovic moves without leaving a mark. |
| And yet, as Djokovic surged back at the start of the second set Murray refused to wilt, instead applying such pressure that it was Djokovic who began to lose his cool, remonstrating wildly with the umpire over a failure to overrule a marginal call. Murray served out from 6-5 to take what looked like an unassailable two-set lead at the end of a terribly draining Wimbledon fortnight. And so it proved to be, as Murray kept his head on a Centre Court that seemed at times close to losing its own in those final moments. Quite where Murray's career goes from here remains to be seen. With two Grand Slams to his name he has now passed over into that career champion's game of simply racking them up. But either way he has now carved his own distinctive niche in the ongoing history of the British sporting summer. | And yet, as Djokovic surged back at the start of the second set Murray refused to wilt, instead applying such pressure that it was Djokovic who began to lose his cool, remonstrating wildly with the umpire over a failure to overrule a marginal call. Murray served out from 6-5 to take what looked like an unassailable two-set lead at the end of a terribly draining Wimbledon fortnight. And so it proved to be, as Murray kept his head on a Centre Court that seemed at times close to losing its own in those final moments. Quite where Murray's career goes from here remains to be seen. With two Grand Slams to his name he has now passed over into that career champion's game of simply racking them up. But either way he has now carved his own distinctive niche in the ongoing history of the British sporting summer. |
| 77 years of hurt From Perry to Murray | 77 years of hurt From Perry to Murray |
| The post-Perry Blues | The post-Perry Blues |
| The second world war was an obvious contributing factor but no one was able to live up to Fred Perry's achievements in the next 10 years, although Bunny Austin came very close, reaching the final in 1938. From 1946 to 1961, no British man made it past the last eight. | The second world war was an obvious contributing factor but no one was able to live up to Fred Perry's achievements in the next 10 years, although Bunny Austin came very close, reaching the final in 1938. From 1946 to 1961, no British man made it past the last eight. |
| The not-so-swinging 60s | The not-so-swinging 60s |
| After Mike Sangster's last-four finish in 1961, the Aussies continued their domination, with Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe lifting the trophy more often than not. Bobby Wilson reached the quarter-finals in 1963 but that was about it. | After Mike Sangster's last-four finish in 1961, the Aussies continued their domination, with Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe lifting the trophy more often than not. Bobby Wilson reached the quarter-finals in 1963 but that was about it. |
| The near misses | The near misses |
| Not to be confused with the drummer in Queen, Roger Taylor was Britain's top player in the late 1960s and 1970s. A lefty with a wicked serve, he reached the semi-finals in 1967, 1970 and 1973, losing two of them in five sets. | Not to be confused with the drummer in Queen, Roger Taylor was Britain's top player in the late 1960s and 1970s. A lefty with a wicked serve, he reached the semi-finals in 1967, 1970 and 1973, losing two of them in five sets. |
| Buster Mottram and his NF views | Buster Mottram and his NF views |
| Mottram was good enough to be the world No15 but he only managed to reach the fourth round once, in 1982. After tennis, he became infamous for his rightwing political views, including a dalliance with the National Front. | Mottram was good enough to be the world No15 but he only managed to reach the fourth round once, in 1982. After tennis, he became infamous for his rightwing political views, including a dalliance with the National Front. |
| The vacant 1980s | The vacant 1980s |
| Mottram was the only British man to make the last 16 in the 1980s, all the more strange for the fact that John Lloyd was still playing. Lloyd reached the Australian Open final on grass in 1977 but never made it past round three on home soil. | Mottram was the only British man to make the last 16 in the 1980s, all the more strange for the fact that John Lloyd was still playing. Lloyd reached the Australian Open final on grass in 1977 but never made it past round three on home soil. |
| The Jeremy Bates era | The Jeremy Bates era |
| It wasn't quite an era but the man from Croydon with a sweet backhand made it to the last 16 twice and even had match point on Guy Forget in 1992 to make it to the last eight, catching the ball toss and promptly double-faulting. | It wasn't quite an era but the man from Croydon with a sweet backhand made it to the last 16 twice and even had match point on Guy Forget in 1992 to make it to the last eight, catching the ball toss and promptly double-faulting. |
| The Rusedski adoption | The Rusedski adoption |
| Unable to produce a champion, we tried to borrow one, bringing big-serving Rusedski from Canada to Britain, thanks to his English mother. But though Greg reached the US Open final in 1997 and had a serve perfect for grass, he only made it to the last eight here. | Unable to produce a champion, we tried to borrow one, bringing big-serving Rusedski from Canada to Britain, thanks to his English mother. But though Greg reached the US Open final in 1997 and had a serve perfect for grass, he only made it to the last eight here. |
| The Henman hope | The Henman hope |
| Henmania officially began when Tim beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in round one in 1996 and lasted a good decade as he reached four semi-finals. Pete Sampras (twice), Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic ended the dream. | Henmania officially began when Tim beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in round one in 1996 and lasted a good decade as he reached four semi-finals. Pete Sampras (twice), Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic ended the dream. |
| The Murray tears | The Murray tears |
| Andy Murray had clearly proved himself to be Britain's best player since Fred Perry by the time he reached the final in 2012 but after taking the first set against Roger Federer, the Swiss hit back under the roof to win in four and a devastated Murray let the tears flow. | Andy Murray had clearly proved himself to be Britain's best player since Fred Perry by the time he reached the final in 2012 but after taking the first set against Roger Federer, the Swiss hit back under the roof to win in four and a devastated Murray let the tears flow. |