Joyous Murray wins over Britain with stunning Wimbelon triumph

ANDY Murray exploded into the affection of a nation claiming the first men's Wimbledon singles title for Britain in 77 years.

Murray wins over Britain

AMID a cataclysmic sonic roar that boomed in Centre Court, Andy Murray exploded into the affection of a nation claiming the first men's Wimbledon singles title for Britain in 77 years.

Murray, the 26-year-old Scot from Dunblane, reacted instinctively to his stunning victory with a primal scream, mouth agape and contorted at the same time, fist pumped and directed straight at the media that had for so long been his harshest critics.

Moments later, still stricken with shock with his straight sets victory 6-4 7-5 6-4 against world No1 Novak Djokovic, Murray gently cradled the winner’s gilt cup like a beloved teddy bear.

Clambering up to the private box where his team had anxiously played every point alongside him, Murray squeezed everyone but momentarily forgot to hug his mum, Judy , although he said later he heard her squealing.

The last British winner at the All England Club was Fred Perry in 1936, but while Perry – in his long pants - would skip over the net in jubilation, Murray’s lion-esque roar at the 15,000 strong crowd was in part a thank you to those who had created a cauldron of support so dramatic and theatrically tense. He said the crowd had never been behind him like it was in the final – and that support meant both “a lot” and made “a big difference”.

This visceral rollercoaster was played out before a record television audience, and the centre court Royal Box invitees including the Prime Minister David Cameron and Posh Spice.

Murray’s tumultuous relationship with the British public warmed after last year’s teary eyed speech at losing the Wimbledon final and escalated after his victories at the London 2012 Olympics and the US Open.

It became an open love affair after he revealed, poignantly for the first time earlier this month, the raw and lingering pain of being a seven year old at the Dunblane school where schoolmates were massacred.

“I obviously understand how much everyone wants a British winner at Wimbledon,” said Murray to the crowd.

“I hope you guys enjoyed that, I did my best.”

Murray said the victory was for all of his team who had been through the highs and the lows, and made a special mention of his coach Ivan Lendl, who cracked open a rare smile.

“For Ivan as well. I know he did everything when he was playing to win Wimbledon, he was extremely patient with me.”

Asked to relive the final point, where he was utterly spent physically, Murray said vacantly:  “I have no idea what happened, don’t know how long that last game was, I was concentrating.”

The final game was an excruciatingly long battle - as was most of the match- featuring four unconverted Championship points and Murray seeing his 40-0 advantage whittled away by a determined Djokovic to several battles at deuce.

Later on Murray reflected the last game was the hardest he had ever had to play.

“I think just how that last game went and my head was kind of everywhere.  I mean, some of the shots Novak came up with were unbelievable.  I maybe played one bad point at deuce.  I remember missing a forehand in the net. But he came up with some unbelievable shots in that last game. Yeah, I think that's why at the end of the match I didn't quite know what was going on. Just a lot of different emotions at that time.”

But the first games were just as brutal, partly because of the heat which hit over 30 degrees and the sheer length of baseline rallies that meant the first four games took over half an hour to complete.

Midway through the match Djokovic started to lose his composure, none more so than at 5-5 in the second set and 15 all on his serve with no challenges left, the Serb remonstrated, then pleaded with the referee to reconsider a ball he considered was long.

Djokovic wasn’t to know it but had he had a challenge to use, he would have lost the point anyway. But for the first time we saw him literally lose his cool - and the crowd responded with even more support, if that were possible, for their man Murray.

Murray said the pressure to repeat the Fred Perry Wimbledon achievement had finally been broken and he hoped it would mean future titles wouldn’t be so burdensome. But he was still in a distant disbelief at his victory even though he had spoken to his grandparents and raised the trophy high above his head from the outside balcony of centre court to give the jubilant spectators who had massed throughout the Wimbledon complex and on the hill renamed Murray’s Mount in a celebratory moment.

“Winning Wimbledon, yeah, I still can't believe it.  Can't get my head around that.  I can't believe it,” he said shaking his head.

“It's hard.  It's really hard.  You know, for the last four or five years, it's been very, very tough, very stressful, a lot of pressure.  The few days before the tournament are really difficult, as well.

“It's so hard to avoid everything because of how big this event is, but also because of the history and no Brit having won. It's been very, very difficult.

“I think I felt a little bit better this year than I did last year.  But it's not easy.  I think now it will become easier.  I hope it will.”

Djokovic was disappointed with his game, particularly how Murray was able to break his serve but noted Murray’s improvement had been mostly mental in the past few years and with those wins came self-belief and confidence.

Said Djokovic of his match: “The volleys and drop shots didn’t serve me well, he was getting them basically. I wasn’t patient enough in the moments I should have been.”

“I should have played better in decisive points, I believed I could have come back, but it wasn’t to be.”

Yet in Murray’s moment of pure delight and dawning recognition that a lifelong dream had been conquered, a reporter’s question elicited a most awkward moment, that perhaps, just perhaps, might be forgotten in the ensuing congratulatory messages.

In his press conference an English journalist posed: “Now that you've achieved your long term goal, have you had any thoughts about perhaps settling down, having a family, popping the question to (girlfriend) Kim (Sears)?”

There was a long pause, a narrowing of the eyes, a moment where he might have retorted with a snappy “none of your business”  but Murray just shook his weary head and responded simply “No,” then adding slowly  “I haven't thought about that yet”.