Wimbledon 2013

[Shaggy]

That was absolutely amazing. We had a little local festival/carnival thing on so I went out at midday intending to be back for 2. Of course wound up in my local and stayed there as they had the tennis on. It was amazing, atmosphere like a football match....yet with long, long silences for every point...it was great. Some of those long rallies felt like the pub held its collective breath and then went mad every time he won a point. Never watched tennis in the pub before

I would've bet my life on neither player winning in straight sets, I thought five was guaranteed. Although it felt like a five setter anyway. When he finally won the pub went mental and I had tears in my eyes ffs

Murray is a sporting hero - his dedication and professionalism is amazing, I'm full of respect for him. A Brit - A SCOT in fact - and he doesn't drink. That is something else

The Murray documentary has been updated to include Wimbledon and is on BBC1 at 9pm tonight

[Shaggy]

He's had one hours kip and is all over the BBC this morning

[dom9]

Up all night without a drink?

[Shaggy]

Up all night without a drink?

Should imagine it would be a piece of cake with all that adrenaline. Never gonna get much sleep after that.

[Shaggy]

Nice interview with Andy from this morning at the top of this page...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/23222780

And here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01cg46z

[Buzzo]

I am struggling for context as to how I feel in the aftermath of witnessing Andy Murray win Wimbledon. It was a great day, a great match both emotional and inspiring. So to some it up, I don't know but here goes... (Be prepared, I am going to Eulogies ).

What a performance, what a show of courage and guts allied to a well honed god given ability. The things that I think he has stood for throughout his career were all evident in that match. The desire and will to win, the constant drive for improvement. When you think back over the last 5 years the accusations (and there have been many) all seem to have been addressed.

Temprament. His achiles heel. Yesterday Murray seemed to be in control of his emotions, he looked like he knew he belonged out there. Last year I suspect he wondered if he was good enough. Yesterday - he knew he was.

Aggression. His passiveness and reliance on his ability to hunt down a return have always been there/// but you do not win Wimbledon (or any Slam) by being a great returner alone, this is the first tournament where Murray has taken his game to opponents.

Add these to the qualities he has and you have a pretty phenomenal Tennis player. The sheer bloody mindedness to save those three Djokovic break points tell you everything you need to know about Murray as a competitor. Watch them again and think what was riding on them. Massive massive amounts of nerve and courage. At 2 sets to love up he would have still held the advantage, but missing out on those match points would have been hard to take for ANY sportsman given the context.

You realise the weight of expectation he had on himself when he says “This is the pinnacle of tennis and I’m just not coming down. It will be take me some time to understand what happened, to get it all in perspective, but I will always remember how it was when I served to 40-love in that last game and then saw three match points slip away.
“It couldn’t happen – and I wasn’t going to let it happen.”

I love that. Everything about that statement is inspirational. As a fellow Scot I didn't particularly take any sense of nationalism from it, to me Murray has modeled himself as a Brit, and I find the sense of ownership of him tiresome. I saw Salmond behind Cameron, and was glad the press avoided (for now) the obvious story as we approach a referendum on independence. Salmond was definitely attempting to grandstand as a Saltire was passed his way, but it just wasn't the time. The achievement was in watching a young chap achieve his dreams, not one of identity.

The thing I love about Murray now is watching him whilst he waits to return serve, a sort of half smile/snarl on his face a look that says, 'give me your best, I'm ready for it, I can't wait for it'. It is the look of a guy completely confident in his ability. This is the confidence in himself I think he lacked. His watershed was defintely Wimbledon last year, the acceptance that he may never win seemed to take the pressure off the removal of this crippling fear has allowed him to become the winner his game always suggested he could be.

So, in short, a great reprise to the Olympics last year. A day when sportsmen looked Gladatorial (hats of to Djokovic for humility in defeat). Where dreams were achieved and where hard work and dedication was rewarded and will hopefully become the model to show a generation what it takes to achieve their dreams and goals.

[Shaggy]

[Fredo]

Is his dad still around? I've never seen him.

[Reece]

Yeah he was there yesterday.

[Fredo]

Was he part of the group, or he's split up with his mum?

[Pablo]

I am struggling for context as to how I feel in the aftermath of witnessing Andy Murray win Wimbledon. It was a great day, a great match both emotional and inspiring. So to some it up, I don't know but here goes... (Be prepared, I am going to Eulogies ).

What a performance, what a show of courage and guts allied to a well honed god given ability. The things that I think he has stood for throughout his career were all evident in that match. The desire and will to win, the constant drive for improvement. When you think back over the last 5 years the accusations (and there have been many) all seem to have been addressed.

Temprament. His achiles heel. Yesterday Murray seemed to be in control of his emotions, he looked like he knew he belonged out there. Last year I suspect he wondered if he was good enough. Yesterday - he knew he was.

Aggression. His passiveness and reliance on his ability to hunt down a return have always been there/// but you do not win Wimbledon (or any Slam) by being a great returner alone, this is the first tournament where Murray has taken his game to opponents.

Add these to the qualities he has and you have a pretty phenomenal Tennis player. The sheer bloody mindedness to save those three Djokovic break points tell you everything you need to know about Murray as a competitor. Watch them again and think what was riding on them. Massive massive amounts of nerve and courage. At 2 sets to love up he would have still held the advantage, but missing out on those match points would have been hard to take for ANY sportsman given the context.

You realise the weight of expectation he had on himself when he says “This is the pinnacle of tennis and I’m just not coming down. It will be take me some time to understand what happened, to get it all in perspective, but I will always remember how it was when I served to 40-love in that last game and then saw three match points slip away.
“It couldn’t happen – and I wasn’t going to let it happen.”

I love that. Everything about that statement is inspirational. As a fellow Scot I didn't particularly take any sense of nationalism from it, to me Murray has modeled himself as a Brit, and I find the sense of ownership of him tiresome. I saw Salmond behind Cameron, and was glad the press avoided (for now) the obvious story as we approach a referendum on independence. Salmond was definitely attempting to grandstand as a Saltire was passed his way, but it just wasn't the time. The achievement was in watching a young chap achieve his dreams, not one of identity.

The thing I love about Murray now is watching him whilst he waits to return serve, a sort of half smile/snarl on his face a look that says, 'give me your best, I'm ready for it, I can't wait for it'. It is the look of a guy completely confident in his ability. This is the confidence in himself I think he lacked. His watershed was defintely Wimbledon last year, the acceptance that he may never win seemed to take the pressure off the removal of this crippling fear has allowed him to become the winner his game always suggested he could be.

So, in short, a great reprise to the Olympics last year. A day when sportsmen looked Gladatorial (hats of to Djokovic for humility in defeat). Where dreams were achieved and where hard work and dedication was rewarded and will hopefully become the model to show a generation what it takes to achieve their dreams and goals.

Great post Buzzo

[Fivex]

Great post, Buzzlington.

[Shaggy]

Was he part of the group, or he's split up with his mum?

They split up years ago but he's increasingly attending games in the players' box.

His interview after was funny...."I will be drinking champagne later, there is absolutely no doubt about that"

Look at Lendl smiling ...Judy Murray's caption is "me and Count Dracula"

[Shaggy]

[Buzzo]

Is his dad still around? I've never seen him.

Yeah he was there, and featured in the Documentary.

(Well worth a watch btw)

I am feeling totally inspired by it all today.

I'm just going to bask in the glory of it all until for the start of the football season, and reading about all the pricks that play footer, brinsg me crashing back down to earth for the second year in a row