The Wait Is Over! Murray Fulfils His Prophecy

With the entire nation waiting for him to win Wimbledon, Andy Murray did not always have the easiest of times playing his home Slam. After a couple of runs to the semifinals, the Scottish born Murray finally broke his duck last year when he reached the final. Despite a stunning start, he eventually succumbed to the all time great, Roger Federer. There wasn't much that a worthy Murray did wrong during that match, but the Swiss raised his game to such an extreme that he became untouchable.

Murray sucked in the excruciating pain of another missed finish and he made sure he was better prepared when the two met again, two weeks later in the Olympic final. On the same court, the Brit extracted his revenge, overcoming Federer in straight sets to win the gold medal. The victory proved a turning point in his career. A renowned choker, Andy went on to capitalize on an incredible summer by winning his first Grand Slam crown at the US Open. “Last year after the final [Ivan Lendl] told me he was proud of the way I played, because I went for it when I had chances. It was the first time I played a match in a Grand Slam final like that. I didn't doubt myself so much after last year's final. It was the best I'd recovered from a Grand Slam loss. I didn't always feel it was going to happen. It's incredibly difficult to win these events. I don't think that's that well understood sometimes. It takes so much hard work and mental toughness to win these sorts of tournaments.”

Although he lost his third Australian Open final in January, Murray is not the same player who would let a great chance slip by. After Tsonga's withdrawal and the shocking exits of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, Murray seized an excellent opportunity to fulfil his Wimbledon prophecy. Even though his path to the final seemed extremely easy, the Brit had to endure some tough opposition. After coming back from two sets down to dismiss Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals, he recovered from a difficult start to overcome Polish Jerzy Janowicz, booking thus his seat in the grand finale.

Facing a drained Novak Djokovic for the title, Murray knew his time has finally come. He was too stronger physically for the Serb, who withstood a determined Juan Martin del Potro in an epic semifinal clash. Although Novak showed flashes of brilliance, it was not enough to stop Andy from claiming an emphatic 6-4,7-5,6-4 victory. His triumph ended Britain's 77 year wait, Murray becoming the first home grown player to win the Wimbledon men's crown since Fred Perry in 1936. “Winning Wimbledon, I think, is the pinnacle of tennis,” said the Scot. “I still can't believe it. Can't get my head around that. I can't believe it. This one will take a little while to sink in, I'm sure.”

Talking about his achievement the new grass-court king said: “For the last four or five years, it's been very, very tough, very stressful, a lot of pressure. The few days before the tournament are really difficult, as well. It's just kind of everywhere you go. It's so hard to avoid everything because of how big this event is, but also because of the history and no Brit having won. It's been very, very difficult."

With all that huge pressure lifted of his shoulders, Andy Murray will now look to take over Djokovic as the world's best player.

The Brits had to wait 77 years to see a home grown player conquer the Wimbledon men's title. Andy Murray fulfilled his prophecy, outplaying world No.1, Novak Djokovic, in three tight sets to win his second major crown.

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