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WimbleDONE – Murray – Wimbledon Champion in Straight Sets Win

Ros Satar
Phil JamesRos SatarTennis

By Ros Satar & Phil James

Andy Murray [2] def. Novak Djokovic [1] 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Let’s get all of these out of the way…

  • 77 years since we had a British men’s singles winner at Wimbledon.
  • In 1977, Virginia Wade was the last British singles winner at Wimbledon.
  • Murray won on 7/7 (and that is a day of special significance in this country – the day before we won our bid for the Olympics.  On 7/7, we suffered a massive terrorist atrocity in this capital).
  • Wimbledon 2012 – he won the first set against Roger Federer, and then lost the final, but won the hearts of many with his raw emotion.
  • Then just 4 weeks later, he dominated Federer in the Olympic final, winning Gold.
  • Then he ended the wait for even a SLAM champion – who cares which one – by winning the US Open, 2012.

He survived “Weird Wednesday” twice, coming back from two sets to love down against Fernando Verdasco – not to mention a set down and roof-gate in his semi-final against Jerzy Janowicz.

Perhaps what people did NOT see coming was a straight sets victory – most pundits and journalists (myself included) opted for Murray in four or five sets.

It is actually with almost a sense of disbelief I flip back through my pad for noting matches – just three pages, one for each set.

Oh, our tails were up when Murray broke early in the first set. but of course, the world no. 1 had other ideas breaking back straight away, and we had to wait a bit for another break as the first set went the Brit’s way 6-4.

Djokovic is not a player to be underestimated and as he raced to a 4-1 lead, a lot of people felt this set was done, but some wayward calls had started to frustrate the Serbian, who let that lead slip.

Murray quite literally clawed his way back into the set, as Djokovic reeled off errors, ran out of challenges.

An ace sealed the second set, and the whole atmosphere began to take on more of the feel of the Olympic final last year (and we know how well that turned out).

When Murray broke right at the beginning of the third set, did people dare to hope?

Probably not when Djokovic went on a bit of a romp, going on to take 4 games on the bounce until finally Murray put a stop to that with a break.

Breaking the Serb again put Murray in the lead and as the crowd watched as Murray reeled off three Championship points.

That were promptly snaffled away, in a long game that saw Murray go from being three Championship points up to having to save three break points.

Matchpoint number four was the magic one – and with a Djokovic unforced error, Britain had its home Wimbledon Champion at last.

Britwatch’s Phil James was on the hill – this was his view of “the moment”:

The Henman Hill crowd, who had until now religiously kept to the no-standing rule, rose as one at 40-0. No one could believe it when the first 3 went begging. Everyone was praying for an ace. No one was leaving, people were hopping about needing a toilet break. When he finally got back to adv and match point, everyone just seemed to know….this would be the one. Everyone who wasn’t hiding behind their hands had camera phones in their hands. Many were doing both.  Those who had been crying at 40-0, had stopped and then started crying again. I don’t remember the winning point, I high fived a complete stranger and lifted my girlfriend into the air.

Meanwhile back on court Murray meandered about in a bit of a daze, before sitting on the chair, and then made his way up to the Players’ Box to celebrate with his team.

As well as causing a bit of mirth when he realized he’d forgotten his mother:

Not captured on tweets but a lovely touch was Novak Djokovic’s parents coming to congratulate Judy Murray – the players are just a week apart in age, and one cannot help feeling that we are indeed seeing the next enduring rivalry.

After all, they have met four times, and split the titlles, two Slams a-piece, taking turns to win (AO 2011: Djokovic, USO 2012: Murray, AO 2013: Djokovic, Wimbledon 2013: Murray)

In a masterstroke, given some of the criticism of TV coverage and commentators, BBC 5 Live Radio synchronised their commentary with the live pictures via the red-button, which provided some respite from those who have, perhaps in the past, treated Murray’s progress in attaining far greater heights than achieved before with disdain.

But there was no time or quarter for any such putdowns today – Andy Murray, Wimbledon Men’s Singles Champion – Job, quite simply, done.

Picture Credit