The win ended a 77-year-drought for a British men’s champion
On the sunniest of Sundays, Britain witnessed three pulsating, ragged sets which ended a 77-year drought for a British men’s champion.
This was a day which saw tennis fever flooding across the country, with the hopes of the nation resting on Andy’s shoulders.
Yet two days later, the realisation of a new 2013 British Wimbledon champion is still sinking in for many of us – but it’s true, Andy Murray really has won his first Wimbledon title after a straight-sets victory over world number one Novak Djokovic, becoming the first Brit to do so since Fred Perry in 1936.
This title has been the lost ark of British sport, the holy grail thought gone for good. But if has now been reclaimed, and about time, too!
The thriller was watched by millions across the globe, witnessing moments that will forever be bathed in a glow of palpable warmth, from the crowd and the skies above the opened roof of Centre Court, which saw temperatures of 30c.
One person to witness these incredible moments right next door to Centre Court at the famously named Henmen Hill, or now named Murray Mount, was Pete Thompson, who went with a group of friends.
“We arrived at about 1am without tents and slept on the floor,” Pete said.
“There were already over 900 people there when we arrived camping in tents.
“At about 6am they wake you up and start to move you towards the entrance which doesn’t open until 10.30.
Pete, 25, of Wimbledon, Merton, said the atmosphere on the hill was incredible.
He added: “It’s a huge variety of people as well, of all ages. I don’t think there’s another place like Wimbledon, and the Hill in particular, where the crowd have such a connection with the players on the court.
“The passion of everyone there is amazing.”
And win Andy did, beating the Serbian 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Many people took to twitter in a wave of tributes to Murray after the win.
David Cameron tweeted: “It was a privilege to watch @andy_murray making history at #Wimbledon, and making Britain proud.”
Meanwhile Merton Council tweeted: “Congratulations Andy Murray. Proud that one of Britain’s greatest sporting moments has happened in the London Borough of Merton #wimbledon.”
On the same day, Merton Council announced it had changed its name to celebrate the historic win by renaming itself the London Borough of Murrayton.
Later on Murray himself, who collected a first prize of £1.6m after his win, took to twitter to voice his shock, tweeting: “Can’t believe what’s just happened!!!!!!!”.
While Britons celebrated by taking to the streets bearing union jack flags and drinking Pimms, Wimbledon’s local supermarket store, Morrisons, celebrated by changing its name at the front of the store to ‘Murriwins’.
Adam French, Store General Manager at Morrisons Wimbledon store said: “As we’re in SW19 we wanted to join in the celebrations after this famous victory.
“We’ve been backing Andy to make sporting history and become the first British man to win a Wimbledon singles final title since Fred Perry in 1936.
“He has done us proud.”
The whole championship was not only a success for sport, but for supermarkets too, with Morrisons selling over two million punnets of British strawberries and nearly two million tubs of cream as well as 125,000 bottles of Pimms across all their stores.
Adam added: “For the fans, this famous fortnight of sporting fun is not just about the action on the court and so we have also been keeping customers supplied with British food associated with the game.”
The two weeks of tennis fever has also seen thousands of Brits fall in love with the game, and it seems this win could now inspire a new generation of children into taking up the sport.
Ben White, director of the South West London based All Star Tennis club, described Andy Murray’s win as an absolutely fantastic moment for British sport.
The All Star Tennis club has 6 venues of tennis courts, in Wandsworth Common, Wandsworth Park, King Georges Park, Tooting Bec Common, Leaders Gardens (Putney) and Furzedown Rec, coaching to both adults and children.
Ben said he imaged Andy felt elated, relieved and overjoyed when he finally become a Wimbledon champion.
“His team have put in years of tremendous effort to win the arguably the greatest tennis tournament in the world, all in front of an adoring crowd,” he said.
The director hopes this will inspire people to get into tennis as a result: “Children need role models and Andy is a fantastic one. Get down to your local park and give tennis a go.”
What a year it has been for British sport – in the space of 12 months, we have witnessed the nation’s greatest Olympics, the first ever British winner of the Tour de France and now, Andy Murray’s crowning as Wimbledon men’s singles champion.
Now it’s onto the England cricket team at the Ashes to keep the ball rolling, hopefully into the wickets!
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