So, Andy Murray did it, and Great Britain finally has their long awaited British Wimbledon champion! Murray, currently the world’s number two ranked player, defeated Novak Djokovic, the world’s number one ranked player, in straight sets, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, to capture his second career Grand Slam title, but the first on his home soil of Great Britain.
Last year, he took a huge step that no British man had done in a very long time, when he qualified for the Men’s Final. But standing in his way was a legend, Roger Federer – probably the greatest player in history. Federer was too much for Murray on that day, and he, and the home crowd, were bitterly disappointed and emotionally wrenched afterwards. Famously, Murray broke down in tears in the interview after the match, holding the runner up tray while addressing the crowd, and explaining that he was getting closer.
About one month later, on the very same court, Murray would exact a strong measure of revenge against Federer when they would meet for the Gold Medal match of the Olympics, which were in London. Federer, already the most decorated men’s champion in tennis history, was trying to complete the one thing that he had not yet done in his career – win the Olympic gold medal in single’s tennis. He had tried before, but had been frustrated in both 2004 and 2008. It should be noted that he does have a gold medal from the 2008 games, but that was in men’s doubles.
It is the one thing that his main rival through the years, Rafel Nadal, had managed to do, that Federer had not. Many thought it was inevitable.
But Murray denied him, winning surprisingly easily, with a dominant performance, and giving the home crowd a foretaste of the success to come.
With the gold medal victory, Murray seemed to rejuvenate his career. Up to that point, he had earned the reputation as a very talented, and perhaps upcoming, tennis player, who just could not quite get the job done when it counted the most. He had been coming closer and closer to that elusive Wimbledon title, but the fact that he had not actually won it, or at that point, any Grand Slam title yet, only reinforced the limitations. He was unable to erase the memory of myriad disappointments before him, when “Henman Hill” would explode with excitement at seeing their man back then, Tim Henman, fight to try and win the Wimbledon title. But the pressure was too much for Henman, perhaps, who was himself one of the most talented men in tennis, yet never actually made it even to the Wimbledon Final, although he came very close at times. In fact, Tim Henman not only never won a Grand Slam title, he never even made it to a final.
Such was not the case with Murray. When he qualified for the Wimbledon Final last year, it was his fourth time qualifying for a Grand Slam final. He had fallen short on his previous three trips. With the defeat to Roger Federer last year, the emotions of failures past and present seemed to catch up with Murray.
Yet, he responded in the best manner possible, winning the gold medal match against Roger Federer himself, and then following that up with a terrific US Open, culminating finally in his winning the championship, and erasing the moniker of not being able to win the big one. It seemed like the future was starting to be very brilliant indeed for Murray.
But he suffered a disappointment at the Australian Open earlier this year, and then did not even enter the French Open a month ago. It was a gamble, and he would surely get blasted if it did not work.
And it came very close to not working. I was watching some Wimbledon earlier this week, and Murray was losing, and badly, to
Indeed, it seemed like he was coming apart at the seams.
But he has shown tremendous character and fortitude, increasingly over the years, and he did it again, coming back after dropping the first two sets to win the match and move on. Perhaps, in retrospect, the final result became almost inevitable from that point onward.
The rest of the way held little such suspense, comparatively speaking. Murray defeated Janowicz in four sets, and then dispatched with Djokovic, the world's number one player, and a one-time Wimbledon winner himself, in straight sets, much to the delight of the locals in attendance, who roared with their approval.
Before this weekend, it could still be argued that Andy Murray was still a bit haunted by the lingering legacy that was once his - that of the player who was very talented, talented enough to come close to achieving greatness, but then not quite getting there.
Now, Murray's legacy has changed radically. He flirted with disaster, and came close being eliminated. Surely, he would have been crucified in the British press. At the very least, he would have been roundly criticized for skipping the French. Instead, he now had given British tennis fans the one thing that they have been longing for many decades now: a chance not only to pull for one of their guys to win, but now the chance to enjoy watching their man win, and savoring the magical moment!
Speaking of nation's with a long drought in men's tennis titles, the winner on the women's side hails from France. The only French man to have broken through in the greater part of a century is Yannick Noah, and that in and of itself was now decades ago. A few, such as Pioline and Clement, have reached the Finals of Grand Slam events, while Grosjean was knocking at the door. There is still the dynamic Monfils, and perhaps Gasquet will finally fulfill the tremendous hope that many had invested in him early in his career. the biggest hope for French men presently is clearly Tsonga, who himself has been to thefinal of a Grand Slam event, although he has not yet tasted victory there. he remains France's greatest hope for a championship on that level.
As for the French women, however, they seem to be doing a bit better than their male counterparts in Grand Slams. Mary Pierce was a couple of Grand Slams, and Amelie Mauresmo won a few of them, even reachibng the ranking of world's number one tennis player for a while there.
And now, another has broken through. It was Marion Bartoli, coached by none other than Mauresmo, who had a brilliant tournament and managed to surprise many by reaching the Final for the second time (she lost to Venus Williams in 2007), completely dominated German newcomer Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4, to capture her first ever Grand Slam title.
Lisicki kind of froze in her first ever Grand Slam final, which even she seemed willing to admit. But this was also simply Bartoli's moment to shine.
It was an unusual Wimbledon tournament this time around, with a lot of big names and favorites dropping early, only to see relative order restored on the men's side, with a match between number one and number two. On the women's side, it seemed that perhaps it might be Serena yet again, but when she was eliminated, it seemed to open things up quite a bit, and made it much more interesting. Being French myself, I was glad to see Bartoli finally break through, and I could also certainly sympathize with the biggest story to come out of this year's Wimbledon as well: a British champion hoisting the trophy!
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