Wimbledon 2013

[Gingawaria]

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.

Incredibly well put!

I have no doubt he'll go on to be one of the all time greats now...he's got the monkey off his back with that win and I think he'll just go from strength to strength.

[Reece]

That bottom picture

Is it Foggy?

[Shaggy]

[Pablo]

Love those pics

Not sure if I've told this story before, but I'll tell it anyway .

When I used to work for Betfair I covered tennis so would watch it non-stop. This was just around the time that Murray was starting out. I used to love watching him because you just knew something mental would happen in every game he played. For a start he was seemingly unable to make it through a set without cramping up which would mean on occasion he'd hop around on one leg playing points if the match made it to a third set He also had an extremely short fuse and would lose it at the throw of a hat and turn the air blue with expletives

But by far the best thing I ever saw him do in those early days happened in a warm up tournament for the Australian Open. In the break between games he necked an entire two litre plastic bottle of Lucozade (or something similar). I remember thinking that he was drinking it a bit fast, but it was obviously hot there! Anyway, the next game starts and in the middle of one of the points Andy walked off to the side of the court and then inexplicably lent over and puked the entire 2 litres of Lucozade out all over the floor, in full view of the umpire and all of the spectators It was wonderfully disgusting I think he played better after that, and from memory I think he went on to win the match

Never been able to find a Youtube clip of that , but as awesome and professional as he is to watch nowadays, I do still miss some of his entertaining behaviour from his early days.

[Shaggy]

Haha yeah it's easy to forget what a short fuse he had....he's done incredibly well to get on top of it. Obviously a part of it is growing up, but still. People used to think he was a brat. In fact I didn't like him - he won me over when he came from 2-0 down to beat Gasquet at Wimbledon 2008....chasing that ball and hitting a magnificent passing shot and ending up on the hoardings/in the crowd, roaring his head off as he celebrated winning the point. That was great.

If you look at this link.......https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=an.............near the top of the page is a timeline..."2006, 2007" etc. You can see Murray growing up around 2007/2008....probably correlating with cutting his hair shorter and not wearing caps backwards

[Pablo]

Found some more info on chundergate: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/archi...p/t-46757.html

Looks like it was in the actual US Open in 2005 (it was a 5 setter he won). Sadly there's links to pics of him chucking up, but they don't seem to work any more

[Buzzo]

Love those pics

Not sure if I've told this story before, but I'll tell it anyway.

When I used to work for Betfair I covered tennis so would watch it non-stop. This was just around the time that Murray was starting out. I used to love watching him because you just knew something mental would happen in every game he played. For a start he was seemingly unable to make it through a set without cramping up which would mean on occasion he'd hop around on one leg playing points if the match made it to a third set He also had an extremely short fuse and would lose it at the throw of a hat and turn the air blue with expletives

But by far the best thing I ever saw him do in those early days happened in a warm up tournament for the Australian Open. In the break between games he necked an entire two litre plastic bottle of Lucozade (or something similar). I remember thinking that he was drinking it a bit fast, but it was obviously hot there! Anyway, the next game starts and in the middle of one of the points Andy walked off to the side of the court and then inexplicably lent over and puked the entire 2 litres of Lucozade out all over the floor, in full view of the umpire and all of the spectators It was wonderfully disgusting I think he played better after that, and from memory I think he went on to win the match

Never been able to find a Youtube clip of that, but as awesome and professional as he is to watch nowadays, I do still miss some of his entertaining behaviour from his early days.

Hehe, great story. Necking a bottle of lucozade the sort of thing you see fat guys do after playing 5's... I forgot about all the cramp and fitness issues he used to get.

Haha yeah it's easy to forget what a short fuse he had....he's done incredibly well to get on top of it. Obviously a part of it is growing up, but still. People used to think he was a brat. In fact I didn't like him - he won me over when he came from 2-0 down to beat Gasquet at Wimbledon 2008....chasing that ball and hitting a magnificent passing shot and ending up on the hoardings/in the crowd, roaring his head off as he celebrated winning the point. That was great.

I remember that vividly. I think it was the point a lot of people realised he could be a contender. You saw that desire and will to win for the first time. And the roar

[Shaggy]

What's not to love about the guy - if you love sport, into tennis, British....I fail to see why so many bitter pricks still have it in for him. Been enjoying the haters' bitterness on social media. Love it. He's come a long way though - like I said I watched in a small pub in the South Manchester suburb where I live and it was like an England game at the World Cup. Really great to see the turnaround in public perception.

[Pablo]

What's not to love about the guy - if you love sport, into tennis, British....I fail to see why so many bitter pricks still have it in for him. Been enjoying the haters' bitterness on social media. Love it. He's come a long way though - like I said I watched in a small pub in the South Manchester suburb where I live and it was like an England game at the World Cup. Really great to see the turnaround in public perception.

He didn't answer either of our questions on Twitter so I now officially think he's a prick again!

[Buzzo]

What's not to love about the guy - if you love sport, into tennis, British....I fail to see why so many bitter pricks still have it in for him. Been enjoying the haters' bitterness on social media. Love it. He's come a long way though - like I said I watched in a small pub in the South Manchester suburb where I live and it was like an England game at the World Cup. Really great to see the turnaround in public perception.

I totally agree, even this thread there seemed to be in some cases more of a begrudging, 'well done, still don't like him'. I don't really understand it.

Wish I had got to watch it in some decent company. (Sorry boys in advance) My kids were going nuts near the end, just running about screaming (not in any way related to the Tennis). At one point as I sat on the floor gripped by the final game, my littlest, Thom, came up to me. I moved my head, eyes glued to the tv, he moved his, I moved mine. He eventually raised his hands and surreptitiously popped a bit of cheese into my mouth.

I'd have loved to watch it somewhere with a bit more of an atmosphere.

My missus was also doing her best to (Andrew Castle style) jinx it, at one point saying (as the match ebbed and flowed in the third set) can you come and get me when he is about to win . I told her I would come and get her as the set gets towards the latter stages.

I must admit though, I was more nervous during the semi final. I was totally zen in the final. When he came back to win the second I was quietly confident he'd win it.

[Sarb]

What's not to love about the guy - if you love sport, into tennis, British....I fail to see why so many bitter pricks still have it in for him. Been enjoying the haters' bitterness on social media. Love it. He's come a long way though - like I said I watched in a small pub in the South Manchester suburb where I live and it was like an England game at the World Cup. Really great to see the turnaround in public perception.

He comes across just a normal guy to be honest.

Did you see people retweeting the Moose off Talksport from last year. Saying Murray is useless would never win a major etc. Think he's been spening too much time with Durham and Gough

Pablo doesn't like him because his girlfriend isn't on twitter

[Baracus]

I have never hated AM always loved his antics and his playing style, its bordering on been so lazy and relaxed at times especially on base line rallies. I did start to lose confidence that he would win a Slam at the end of last years Wimbledon.

After witnessing all the major historic sporting events in recent times, from golf, cricket, tennis, etc. I am sat here struggling to figure out if there is anything left to witness other than LFC winning the title again. ( Could not give an arse about England winning world cup)

[Rich]

I have never hated AM always loved his antics and his playing style, its bordering on been so lazy and relaxed at times especially on base line rallies. I did start to lose confidence that he would win a Slam at the end of last years Wimbledon.

After witnessing all the major historic sporting events in recent times, from golf, cricket, tennis, etc. I am sat here struggling to figure out if there is anything left to witness other than LFC winning the title again. ( Could not give an arse about England winning world cup)

Andy Murray with a lazy playing style? Really - he always looks like he's working his nuts off every point.

[Daniel 7]

That was an excellent post there Buzzo.

BTW, do any of you follow John Niven on Twitter (author of the gloriously offensive Kill Your Friends)?

He was tweeting during the match yesterday and it is in much the same style of inspired and innovative expletive use to describe what was happening

Check his timeline on @NivenJ1 - funny.

[Shaggy]

Niven and Irvine Welsh's tweeting got on my tits a bit.......it was quite funny at first but I thought they both came across as real try-hards.