Game, Set and Match

The date 7/7 in the UK conjures up memories of the terrible terrorist attack in London in 2005 but fast forward 8 years later, it will be remembered as the day when a British man won the Wimbledon singles tournament for the first time in 77 years. The scenes of euphoria on Centre Court and look of unbridled ecstasy on the face of the victorious Andy Murray will be regarded as one of the iconic moments in UK sporting history.

Murray’s sporting journey in the last 2 years has led to his meteoric rise as a world class tennis player. For a long time, he was the world’s 4^th best player reaching the latter stages of majors and sometimes the final but never quite crossing the line. One of his best decisions was to install Ivan Lendl as his coach. Lendl was a world class player from the 1980’s and won 8 major titles in his career. He is known as a dogged task master and has the personality to stand his ground with the fiercely competitive Murray. There was also changes to the training regime that has led to Murray putting in more hours in the gym and giving him more of a physical presence on court. Last summer also proved to be the making of the British number 1 when he made his first Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. After winning the first set, Murray unfortunately conceded the next three but showed enough potential to suggest that this was not the end of the story.

Redemption was to come only a few weeks later as Murray again found himself competing at the All England Club in Wimbledon as a Team GB Olympian. He put in an impressive display in the semi-finals against Novak Djokovic to set up a rematch against Roger Federer on Centre Court. This time, Murray swept Federer aside in straight sets to become Olympic champion and extinguish the hopes of the legendary Swiss player to ever claim the accolade, the only significant title to elude him in his storied career.

Murray managed to use this as a springboard to the hard court season that culminates with the last major of the season, the US Open. This is his favourite surface and he set up a final meeting with the in-form Novak Djokovic, a player who is one of Murray’s good friends and fiercest rivals. This led to his first major win in an epic 5 set match, no small feat considering the momentum of the match had gone the way of his opponent in sets 3 and 4. It was clear that as well as being more physically and tactically accomplished, he also had developed the psychology of a champion.

The glorious summer of 2012 were all the signs needed to suggest that the Wimbledon jinx that spanned the generations was going to come to an end. This became even clearer in the warm up tournament at Queens Club where Murray was again triumphant after injury affected his clay court season. The early rounds of Wimbledon were straightforward wins for Murray although two of the greats, Nadal and Federer, were out in the first three days. Although many seeds tumbled in both the men and women’s tournaments, it seemed right that the final would be a summit meeting with the number one and two. The final itself had an air of destiny surrounding it. Murray put in a commanding performance to slay Djokovic and many nerves were frayed as Championship point came and went as the world number one fought hard until the end and the last game went to several deuces before the fairytale ending.

One interesting sub-plot was in the VIP seats where Alex Salmond appeared to try and photobomb the Prime Minister by fumbling around to unravel a Saltire as everyone was celebrating the victory. It was a joy to see both the Scottish and British flags being waved around Centre Court but it seemed somewhat unbecoming of the First Minister to make such an amateurish attempt at making political capital. After a dignified performance overseeing at the final, the Prime Minister himself came in for some mockery when photos emerged of Andy Murray standing on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street and the PM appeared behind him with a gleeful look and rubbing his hands. It is right that our leaders are seen at major events of national importance but they should realise that these should not be used for their own ends.

The best thing that our leaders can do is ask what can be done to increase investment in making sport more accessible in our schools. This would have the dual benefit of providing more elite sporting stars and encourage more young people to enjoy sports as a pastime, providing the added benefit of making Britain a healthier place. Investment in world class infrastructure may also help people like Andy Murray to do more training in the UK. The blueprint of more infrastructure and accessibility is only going to be possible if the “all must have prizes” attitude is banished from our schools and healthy competition encouraged.

In this digital age, there has also been a great deal of debate over whether Scotland or Britain can take the glory for the victory. Online forums on most news sites have seen the rise of many trolls gloating that this was a Scottish win. When out and about on Monday, one of the more unusual things that I heard someone suggesting that Murray does not like English people, citing an incident where he made a tongue-in-cheek comment about supporting “anyone but England” in the World Cup back in 2006. This comment was originally made in the context of banter with an England supporter but sadly grew into a monster, where a false rumour started that he bought the shirt of England’s opponents, Paraguay. Arguably, Murray had just made a youthful, naïve comment and his transgression was actually a lack of media savvy rather than a dislike of England. He may come across as prickly sometimes, but most champions have a bit of an edge.

Andy Murray is renowned as a Scottish patriot but also a true Brit, this was clear in his Olympic effort where he partnered Laura Robson in the mixed doubles, adding a silver medal to the Gold that he won earlier that afternoon. He was also Britain’s youngest ever Davis Cup competitor. We can safely say that the great Wimbledon victory can be savoured by people in all corners of our nation.

Above all, the momentous Wimbledon win can also be considered a victory for Dunblane primary school. The world was shocked on 13^th March 1996 when a gunman walked into the school gym and shot dead 16 primary 1 pupils and their brave teacher before shooting himself. It has been reported that the young Andy Murray was sheltered under a desk in the headmaster’s study when the tragedy unfolded along with his elder brother Jamie, both of whom were on route to the gym. The moment that “game, set and match” was called from the umpires chair seemed to be the time that the spectre of tragedy was lifted from Scotland’s smallest city, ushering in a sense of fulfilment for the unrealised dreams of Dunblane’s lost generation.