On Sunday afternoon, instead of enjoying the early July sunshine and pottering in our large suburban garden, I was indoors glued to the Men's Singles Final from Wimbledon on the BBC. Though there were tense moments when the psychological pendulum threatened to switch between the two twenty six year old combatants, in the end Andy Murray from Dunblane in Scotland won the battle in three straight sets, becoming Great Britain's first Men's Singles winner since the legendary Fred Perry in 1936. It was a magnificent moment for British sport just a day after the British Lions rugby union team had thrashed Australia in Sydney to win the test series.
Andy Murray is an awkward character to warm to. Sometimes described as a "dour Scot", he can seem uncomfortable and rather monosyllabic during interviews. Underneath it all, I suspect he is a rather shy and private person who blossoms on the tennis court but finds the associated media palaver a little distasteful. Fred Perry would have been amazed to witness the media frenzy that has followed Andy Murray for years. It surely wasn't like that in 1936.
Murray was a nine year old pupil at Dunblane Primary School when mad gunman Thomas Hamilton walked into the school and killed sixteen children and a teacher before turning the gun on himself. This event has clearly left an indelible mark on Murray's psyche and it is also likely that his parents' eventual divorce in 2005 had a huge effect upon his developing character. He once said, "I would get really upset. One of the things I would have loved to have had was a family that worked better together."
Yesterday, almost in spite of himself, Andy Murray proved that he is a winner. With guts, daring, experience and supreme fitness he threatened to make World Number One - Novak Djokovic look rather ordinary in the scorching Centre Court. Whatever happens from now on, Andy Murray has earned a place in sporting history and if he isn't voted this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December I will post a photo of myself in this blog - wearing just my pink Y fronts!...Feeling flushed ladies? It'll never happen. Well done Andy! Braveheart indeed!
Great post, Lord Pudding, and my heartiest congratulations! I suppose it is only a matter of time until you are claiming that Dunblane, Scotland, is located in a hitherto overlooked corner of Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteI have linked to your post in my own latest post.
Andy who?....Is he the British chap?
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely on the edge of my commode for the whole match.
ReplyDeleteA Scottish winner will do quite nicely, thank you. For the moment. ;-)
From watching the gentleman he, not surprisingly, has many problems. I wonder what whip and reward method Mr Lendl has been using to gather Mr Murray's pieces together?
An amazing match indeed. Thank you to my sister for reminding me it was on - I very nearly forgot!
Sir PY-fronts, it is a tradition here in Oz to watch the men's finals the night before heading back to work for a new school term. Telecast starts at 11pm, so it is like that last display of defiance to stay up late on a school night. Thank God it was only a 3-setter, 3 hours sleep was not quite enough to get through the day today.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a safe bet Andy Murray will get your sportsperson of the year. Didn't know he had that connection to the Dunblane massacre. Interesting.
I also watched it, enthralled from start to finish - not least due to Andy's special mentality which always leaves the possibility that he was going "to bottle it" all the way up to the final whistle (do Umpires whistle?). This makes his victory even more praise-worthy, he has really done some work on his mind-play (Lendl step forward), which backed with great tennis, has finally seen him rise to the top where it counts - in England!
ReplyDeleteAlthough he has a bit of a reputation as being a miserable young sod, sorry, dour, with the little I've heard from him, I think he has a keen sense of humour and a wise head on those young-ish shoulders. He seems almost Yorkshire-like.
Well done Andy, we're all chuffed for you :)