World number two Andy Murray snapped a 77-year drought for a British male champion at Wimbledon Championships when he defeated top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday’s blockbuster match in front of sold-out crowd at the Centre Court.
The last time a British male player won this grasscourt Slam was in 1936 (Fred Perry). This is Murray’s second career Grand Slam title, having won the US Open a year ago. The victory at Flushing Meadows in 2012 (also against Djokovic), ended the country’s 76-year drought for a male Grand Slam champion at the US Open.
Reports confirmed that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had sent a private message of congratulations to Murray.
A year ago, the world saw Murray’s emotional speech when he lost the Wimbledon final last year to Roger Federer. He turned the fortunes around when he defeated Federer at the London 2012 Olympics gold medal match at the same venue and won the US Open as well. This time, he made another step further and finally winning the Wimbledon title for the host nation.
“It feels slightly different to last year,” said Murray during the on-court interview. “Last year was one of the toughest moments of my career. It was a tough match and an unbelievably long final game. I don’t know how I managed to come through. I’m just so glad,” he added.
“I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon. I tried my best. I’ve played Novak many times. He’s going to go down as one of the biggest fighters. That made it extra tough; I just managed to squeeze through in the end.”
Murray is now 2-5 in Grand Slam finals. Having finished runner-up five times (2008 US Open – lost to Federer, 2010 Australian Open – lost to Federer, 2011 Australian open – lost to Djokovic, 2012 Wimbledon – lost to Federer, 2013 Australian Open – lost to Djokovic).
Meanwhile, Djokovic dropped to 6-5 record in Grand Slam finals.
“Congratulations to Andy. He absolutely deserved this win,” said Djokovic, the 2011 champion. “He played incredible tennis. Congratulations to his team, I know how much it means to them, all of you guys and the whole country.
“That makes his success even better, I’m aware of the pressure he gets. There was a lot of expectation on him to win the tournament this year after reaching the final last year. It was an absolute honour and pleasure to be a part of this final.”
Several high profile personalities were seen watching the final on the Centre Court including Bradley Cooper, Victoria Beckham, Prime Minister David Cameron, Waryne Rooney and Gerard Butler.
