Seven times Murray made us laugh, cry & just feel proud

  • Posted: Jan 11, 2019

Tears, triumph and turmoil. Andy Murray has packed plenty of each into his tennis career.

But now the end is close – and may even come next week.

A three-time Grand Slam champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, ‘Sir Andy’ has taken us from emotional highs to gut-wrenching lows throughout his 14-year career.

Here’s seven times Murray made us laugh, cry – or just feel proud.

When he lost in the Wimbledon final

Grand Slam final number four for Murray was the big one. Wimbledon. Centre Court. His home crowd. His opponent? SW19 favourite Roger Federer.

Murray was trying to become the first British man since 1936 to win the singles title. Federer had already beaten him in two Grand Slam finals – and Murray hadn’t even won a set.

This time, he won the first. But the rain, the nerves, and Federer’s determination, kicked in and the Swiss won in four sets.

The two hugged. Then Murray stepped up to the mic:

As the crowd gave him a standing ovation, Murray cried.

He said he “felt like I was playing for the nation – and I couldn’t quite do it”.

Murray’s tears moved everyone – and he thinks they earned him the respect of the public.

Two months later, he beat Federer to win Olympic gold. By the end of the year, he was a Grand Slam champion.

When he fought for almost five hours to win his first major

Murray wasn’t always popular with the public.

A joke about supporting “whoever England were playing against” at the 2006 World Cup was taken the wrong way by many.

But the tears at Wimbledon and his Olympic success changed perceptions.

There was vocal support for him as he faced Novak Djokovic at the US Open. It was Slam final number five.

Murray won the first two sets but Djokovic forced a decider.

This time the Scot held his nerve. After the disappointment of Wimbledon, it was his time.

When he won Wimbledon and rewrote history

Seventy-seven years of hurt. Seventy-seven years since a British man had won the Wimbledon singles title. Murray changed that.

In front of 15,000 fans on Centre Court, and thousands more packed on to Murray Mound (formerly Henman Hill), he battled with Djokovic once again.

It was hot, the battle was fierce – and Murray let three championship points slip from his grasp. Wimbledon gasped.

But this was a different Murray.

Djokovic was beaten, Murray was Wimbledon champion – 77 years of hurt banished to history.

When he ruled 2016 and became world number one

Murray began 2016 by reaching the Australian Open final, where he lost to Djokovic.

He ended it by beating the Serb to replace him at the top of the world rankings and win the season-ending ATP Tour finals.

2016 was Murray’s year.

He became the first player to successfully defend an Olympic singles title. He won nine of his 13 finals. He won Wimbledon again. He won his final 24 matches of the year. He became the first British player to top the world rankings. And he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for a record third time – despite wife Kim voting for show jumper Nick Skelton.

When he championed women’s equality and challenged sexism

“I have been asked about women’s equality,” Murray wrote in 2017, “and I would find it hard to look any of the top female tennis players in the eye if I did not speak my mind.”

Murray has often spoken of the need for equality in sport. He was the first leading male player to hire a female coach – Amelie Mauresmo joining his team in 2014.

Both Murray and Mauresmo were criticised – one male player even sent Murray sexist texts about his coach – but the Scot repeatedly pointed out he had hired her for her experience as a two-time Slam winner.

In a piece for the BBC, Murray said female tennis players made the same sacrifices as men, and when he corrected a journalist’s “casual sexism” at Wimbledon in 2017, a proud mum moment followed:

When he ruled social media

Whether it was posing with Santa or showing off his fashion sense, Murray mastered Twitter and Instagram.

The Scot took fans behind the scenes of his life on tour: he offered tickets to a fan to watch his first-round match in Melbourne after seeing a post online, he’s answered questions, shared his training sessions and generally been a bit tongue in cheek wherever possible.

Andy Murray's Instagram
Murray captioned this: “Still can’t believe I survived getting struck by lightning. Thinking about bringing back this look. Yes or no?”

When he dropped and broke a commemorative plate

Oops.

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