Andy Murray breaks a 77-year drought
Andy Murray made history on Sunday by being the first British man to win the Wimbledon Championships for 77 years.
The Scot beat the Serbian number one seed Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4 7-5 6-4 to claim his second Grand Slam title and a place in the history books.
Murray was the dominant player throughout the first two sets, and was playing some stellar tennis from the off, covering the court superbly and being rewarded with numerous break points early on that he was able to convert after three games.
Djokovic broke back before Murray clawed back the advantage to put himself 4-3 ahead with a service game in hand, proceeding to see out the first set comfortably.
The Serb found some form in the second set and was up by 4-1 before beginning to leak errors, namely a double fault under pressure in the seventh game to give Murray a break back.
Murray’s grit and skill were rewarded with another late break after Djokovic cracked a shot into the net, leaving the Scot to serve out the second set. The dream was becoming more and more palpable, the entire British Isles daring to believe that this was finally the day the ghosts of past Wimbledon failures were expunged for good.
Murray found himself 4-2 down in the third set however, and I started to think that a Grand Slam final victory against Novak Djokovic would never be this easy.
Proving me wrong, Murray broke back and managed to hold his next service game, shortly after getting his nose in front with a shot of perfection down the sideline and into the corner of the court ,with Djokovic stranded at the net. One more unforced error from Djokovic gave Murray his final break and the chance to serve for the championship.
He was up 40-0 before they torturously took the game to deuce. The 10-minute long game climaxed with a shot from Djokovic into the net. The little London suburb and millions of living rooms around the Kingdom erupted, 77 years forgotten.
Murray enjoys the crowd after his victory
Andy Murray roared with delight and proceeded to pace the court in a daze, clearly struggling to take in the enormity of what he had achieved. He also sportingly embraced Djokovic, his companion and rival on the tennis circuit since age of 11.
After lifting the 18-inch silver gilt cup he conceded that the match had been “unbelievably tough”, adding: “I understand how much everyone else wanted to see a British winner, so I hope you guys enjoyed that, I tried my best!”
For millions of British tennis fans a British Wimbledon champion is something only dreamt about until now, and after Murray’s loss to Federer last year I did wonder whether we would ever actually witness it.
No football match or Rugby victory can surely compare with the phenomenal moment when Andy won match point. This was a big deal of momentous proportions: 1936 was a ridiculously long time ago, before the Beatles, the microwave oven or Milton Keynes. So many Britons have gone a lifetime without knowing what it’s like to have a home-grown tennis champion at the most prestigious of Grand Slams.
Let us not forget also that Murray is Scotland’s first Wimbledon champion since Harold Mahoney in 1896. For sporting minnows Scotland especially this is a sporting occasion to treasure forever.
In an unforgettable scene from the 1996 Scottish film Trainspotting, Ewan McGregor’s character declares after a certain pastime that he hadn’t “felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978!” I like to think that Murray’s championship winning point has given a new generation of Scotsmen a memory of climactic ecstasy comparable to what Mark “Rent Boy” Renton experienced that night.
And although still looking for the next English Wimbledon champion, this is a victory the rest of this tiny, close knit island is happy to celebrate together.
As for Andy Murray, over the last 12 months he has proved his mettle and surely this is just the second of many more Grand Slam trophies.
