To the surprise of everyone, Andy Murray hammered Novak Djokovic by 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the sweltering heat of the All England Club in men's singles champion event on Sunday. With this, he concluded Britain's agonizing 77-year wait for a Wimbledon.
Murray became the country's first male winner since Fred Perry in 1936. After winning the US Open in 2012, he followed it with the second Grand Slam title. Further, he won his Olympic gold medal as well as a heartbreaking, tearful defeat to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.
However, the battle between two men who have now contested three of the last four Grand Slam finals rarely lived up to the expectations in Sunday's mega event. Both struggled in the stifling 40-degree heat. Djokovic who had beaten Murray in the Australian Open final in January, looked jaded following his record 4 hour 43-minutes semi-final victory over Juan Martin del Potro.
Despite leading by 4-1 in the second set and 4-2 in the third, the Serb was out-hit by Murray who concluded with 36 winners to 31, with 21 unforced errors to Djokovic’s 40 and having scored 17 break points.
The 26-year-old Murray admitted that he has played Novak many times and when everyone concludes playing, he will emerge as one of the fighters. He added that he did the same today and that is what made it tough. He understands how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon and he hopes everyone enjoyed it. He commented that his team has stuck by him through some tough moments. This one is for his coach Ivan Lendl as well. He knows he did everything to try to win this one when he was playing. He is fantastic, he has been patient and he thanked him.
On the other hand Djokovic, who lost in straight sets at a Grand Slam for the first time since the semi-finals at Wimbledon three years ago, praised Murray. The Serb disclosed that it was not easy. Andy deserves the win. He played incredible tennis. He congratulated him, his whole team and the country. He knows what it means to them all. He added that it makes the success even bigger as he is aware of the pressure he gets. It cannot be ignored that there are always lots of expectations on him to win this tournament. It's a huge achievement.
Actually Murray, who has played in the final of his last four majors, had break points in the 1st and 3rd games, with the Scot at last pouncing on his seventh for a 2-1 lead. The Serb leveled at 2-2 but Murray was more aggressive, positive man and broke to love for a 4-3 edge firing approximately four times as many winners as compared to the top-seeded Serb. However, Murray saved three break points for a 5-3 lead but Djokovic was enraged that umpire Mohamed Lahyani had called a ball out at 30-40 while allowing play to go on with the Scot going to deuce. On the other side, Murray wasn't getting contented. He had won the first set of the pair's last three meetings and yet lost the match. Certainly, Djokovic knew the history, rushing into a 4-1 lead with two more marathon rallies of 30 and 32 shots. But Murray reverted back to 4-4 in a final which despite its punishing hit, still felt flat.
Apparently, Djokovic was becoming increasingly frustrated and in his fog of anxiety, Murray mugged him for a break to lead by 6-5 and proceeded two sets to the good at 7-5. Murray had just lost once when two sets up and that was in the Wimbledon 3rd round in 2005 against David Nalbandian--his debut year when he was a rookie 18-year-old. In addition, a break in the second game of the third set gave Murray a 2-0 lead before Djokovic raced away with the next four games for a 4-2 lead. But Murray retrieved the break in the seventh game and leveled in the eighth with a running and curled forehand off a Djokovic drop. It almost concluded.
Djokovic, chasing a seventh major was broken for 4-5 in his 11th Grand Slam final before the British star with the crowd on their feet, wasted three match points. Finally, he achieved his place in history when Djokovic netted a backhand after 3 hours and 9 minutes of action.
