Apparently, the tennis gods did look favorably upon the UK this weekend. Andy Murray accomplished what British male tennis players have failed to do over the past 77 years: win Wimbledon. And with his hard-fought straight-set victory over Novak Djokovic (much closer than the score suggests), 62,740,000 United Kingdomers let out a collective sigh. The wait is finally over and I’m sure Murray is well on his way to becoming Sir Andy. Though, when thinking about it, we should have all seen this coming. It was always Andy Murray who was going to break this slump.
From the moment Andy Murray hired Ivan Lendl as his coach 18 months ago, he set himself on a straight line to one ultimate goal: winning Wimbledon. Sure, a major title would be nice, a couple victories mixed in, but make no mistake- Murray’s greatest goal was to succeed where countless others had failed. I think it’s a feeling that American sports fans struggle to grasp. In the United States, there is rarely a unified showing of national pride in a team, perhaps in recent years, only the 1999 Women’s World Cup victory and the 1980 US Hockey Miracle on Ice victory over the Soviet Union. I don’t know the exact reason why this is, though I can surmise that 1) the United States is usually top-3 in Gold and total medals won at any Olympics, signaling that we’re used to victory and perhaps spoiled, and 2) so much of American fandom is regional based on the local teams that play near us that there are less national teams to be excited about.
Therefore, I think it is tough for Americans to understand the pressure that Murray must have been feeling while attempting to serve out the final game of his 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic. Murray must have felt the weight of 80 years of disappointment, which made his outburst of relief at the end that much more gratifying. While he did fall to his knees after shaking Djokovic’s hand, I must take a moment to point out my joy in seeing Murray simply toss his hat and pump his fist when he won. Today, too many tennis players fall to the ground immediately after winning a match. For example, in the men’s quarterfinals, of the four winners, two of them fell to their knees. In the quarterfinals! Still two wins away from winning the entire tournament! By the way, who were the two quarterfinals winners that didn’t fall to their knees? That would be Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. But moving on…
Lendl became Murray’s full-time coach before the 2012 season. At that point, he was ranked #4, behind Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. In the first major of 2012, the Australian Open, Murray lost to Djokovic in a semi-finals match that lasted close to five hours. This was one of the defining matches in what has become one of the best rivalries of this decade, between Djokovic and Murray, and is getting close to the intrigue of that of Nadal vs. Federer. After a quarterfinal loss in the French Open, he made the final at Wimbledon. Already, he had succeeded where many others had failed, becoming the first Brit to make the final since Bunny Austin in 1938. He won the first set against Roger Federer, but lost the next three, bringing on a tear-filled post-match interview where he apologized to British fans everywhere, but made note of how far he had come and how little of the journey he had left. Who knew at that point it would only be one year before he would be a Wimbledon champion?
Recovering to win the Olympic gold medal, also at Wimbledon and against the same opponent, Murray was well on his way to belonging in the same conversation as tennis’ big-3 (Djokovic, Nadal, Federer). Add to that his victory in the US Open final over Novak Djokovic, and becoming the first Brit to win a final since Fred Perry in 1936 and the first Scot to win a final since Harold Mahony in 1896, and the tennis world was suddenly talking about a Big-Four. By the end of the year, Murray had risen one spot to #3, behind only Djokovic and Federer.
Murray’s 2013 started off with a bang, winning the Brisbane International title and then reaching the final of the Australian Open (his third major final in a row). There, he lost to Djokovic, but again, confirmed that he belonged in the conversation of the greatest men’s players in the game today. This season, he skipped the French Open because of injury concerns. That ended up being the correct decision as he looked stronger than ever throughout this entire Wimbledon tournament.
But his victory did not come without struggles. In the quarterfinals, Murray overcame a 2-0 deficit against Fernando Verdasco and rallied back to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. In the semifinals, Murray dropped the first set to Jerzy Janowicz before railing off three sets in a row. And in the finals, Murray won in straight sets, but had to fight throughout to win each one. In the 2nd set, he came back from down 4-1, winning six of the next seven games to win the set 7-5. In the third, he had to come back from a break down at 4-2. He was all over the court and it was the type of match where you came away saying that the right man won.
So what’s next for Andy Murray? He is quickly becoming the most decorated men’s tennis player in the UK, with two major titles and an Olympic gold. If he can keep up this level of play, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him overtake Djokovic’s #1 ranking by the end of the year. At 26, Murray is the 2nd youngest of the Big-Four (though only a week separates him and Djokovic). As Federer and Nadal continue to fall off a little more each year, I can see a great rivalry continuing between Djokovic and Murray, and we could be in for a great stretch of head-to-head tennis, similar to what we experienced between Rafa and Roger from 2006-2009. But for now, let’s let Murray and the rest of the United Kingdom enjoy this victory for a while. Murray earned his win and after watching him chase down drop shot after drop shot, we should have known that no matter the distance he had to cover, he was always going to reach his ultimate destination: a Wimbledon title.
Your Chicago daily sports schedule (one game to watch)
Cubs @ White Sox – 7:10 pm MAKEUP GAME (Cubs are going for four-game season series sweep)