Andy Murray has claimed this year’s Men’s Wimbledon title, ending Britain's 77-year wait for a new champion. The Scotsman downing world No.1 Novak Djokovic in straight-sets to become Britain’s first male singles winner since Fred Perry back in 1936.
The comprehensive 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 result was played in the blistering heat of the All England Club, much to the delight of the home crowd.
It was Murray's second grand slam title, following his breakthrough triumph at the US Open last year which followed his Olympic gold medal in Beijing, as well as his heartbreaking loss to Roger Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final.
Despite all the upsets that happened throughout the fortnight of Wimbledon action the two top men’s seeds were left to contest the final. Demonstrating the power shift that has occurred in the Men’s game of late Murray and Djokovic have now contested three of the last four grand slam finals.
While Murray will no doubt be proud of his effort, it would be fair to say that both players stuggled in the stifling 40-degree heat. Although both players had battled through epic five-setters on their way to making the final, it was the Scotsman who was best able to cope with the conditions.
Despite Djokovic leading 4-1 in the second set and 4-2 in the third, the World No.1 was out-hit by Murray who finished with 36 winners to 31, with 21 unforced errors to the Serb's 40 and having carved out 17 break points.
The significance of the victory was not lost on Murray, who admitted struggling to deal with the immense pressure that has inevitably greeted him at his home grand slam.
"It's really hard. For the last four or five years, it's been very, very tough, very stressful, a lot of pressure,'' Murray said.
"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.
"I think I felt a little bit better this year than I did last year but it's not easy.
The Scot dedicated his victory to coach Ivan Llendl, an eight-time grand slam winner who never captured the Wimbledon title, losing twice in the final including in 1987 to Aussie Pat Cash.
A dejected Djokovic admitted that his semi-final epic against Juan Martin del Potro had taken its toll, however he took nothing away from Murray’s effort.
"I cannot look for excuses but yes the previous match went almost five hours, five sets,'' Djokovic said.
"I felt OK but maybe physically I didn't have enough gas in the important moments.
"But he (Murray) played fantastic tennis, no question about it. He deserved to win.''
As always we thoroughly enjoyed bringing you all the late night tennis action of the year’s third grand slam. With just the US Open title still to be decided it will be interesting to see whether the World No.1 can bounce back or the reigning champ can continue his fine run of form.
Damien Bellemore