Magnificent Murray delivers win a nation had waited for

Andy Murray became the toast of a
nation on Sunday - in truth, probably
for the rest of his life - as he won the
men's title at Wimbledon, ending the
longest, most agonising wait in British
sport in the most emphatic of
fashions.
Eight years on from his encouraging
All-England Club debut as a fresh-
faced 18-year-old, and 77 years
removed from the legendary Fred
Perry's third and final title at the same
venue, Murray defeated nemesis
Novak Djokovic in three brutal sets to
deliver a triumph at SW19 that a
nation had begun to wonder if it
would ever see again.
On a perfect summer's day over
Centre Court, with the great and good
of British society there to cheer the
Scot on, Murray out-fought and out-
thought perhaps his most familiar of
foes on the way to landmark 6-4 7-5
6-4 triumph that will almost certainly
define his career.
"I won this for myself but I
understand how much everyone else
wanted to see a British winner,"
Murray said after the trophy
presentation. "I hope you guys
enjoyed this."
With thousands watching out on
Henman Hill - that monument to
heart-wrenching home
disappointments of years past - and
millions more glued to television sets
in homes, clubs and pubs around the
Isles, the 26-year-old delivered a
victory that perhaps only a World Cup
win for England's football side would
surpass in terms of national
significance.
Clinching victory was not easy - but
nothing so monumental ever is. With
Murray serving at 5-4 in the third set
Djokovic saved three championship
points but, after denying two break
opportunities in the interim, the 26-
year-old fired a blistering forehand
cross-court that Djokovic could only
bury into the net.
Cue nationwide celebrations.
"Slightly different to last year!" Murray,
who lost to Roger Federer in four sets
at the same stage 12 months ago,
joked. "An unbelievably tough match -
I don't know how I managed to come
through it.
"That last game was unbelievable.
That last point, I have no idea what
happened."
In truth the final was not of the
highest quality - high on intensity on
energy, but equally endowed with
unforced errors and uncharacteristic
tactical mistakes - but that will be of
little concern to the history books.
Murray still had to go out there and
win the tournament, and - eventually -
he did.
It was the home favourite (buoyed by
roars that Boris Becker described as
"the biggest I have ever heard" when
he entered the arena) who came out
far and away the brighter - finding
himself with three break points in the
opening game of the match after
Djokovic struggled to find the open
court with his groundstrokes. But the
Serbian found a way to escape that
early hole to hold after some
impressive rallies - setting the stage
for what was to come.
Murray's first game was hardly a
relaxed affair, but compared to
Djokovic he was positively cruising -
the Serbian finding himself forced to
save three further break points in just
his second service game. But the
fourth (Murray's seventh overall)
would be taken, Djokovic burying a
pressured forehand into the net as
the crowd favourite gained the early
advantage.
Not that it would last long - Djokovic
breaking back immediately to restore
parity at 2-2. It was an
uncharacteristically inconsistent start
from both players but, as the next
two games would go with serve, they
seemed to find a rhythm - with the
rallies being extended and the
unforced errors becoming far less
frequent.
That changed at 3-3, however, as a
fine Murray passing shot built on two
Djokovic errors to hand him a further
break point. And the first of them
would be converted; Djokovic netting
a makeable backhand to fall behind
again.
That messy service game would
ultimately prove the difference in the
opening stanza - even after Murray
opened up his next service game with
successive double faults. But he
navigated his way out of that cul-de-
sac to hold for 5-3 - and duly served
to love at the next opportunity as he
claimed first blood.
If the opening set was unfamiliar in its
erratic standard of play - Djokovic had
17 unforced errors in its 59 minutes -
then the second was a return to the
form of the recent grand slam finals
of the pair. No service holds came
easily which, in the near 40-degree
heat on Centre Court, made stamina a
huge factor.
Djokovic edged ahead at 2-1 - again,
capitalising on a few poor Murray
shots with some wicked forehands -
but Murray responded in kind at 2-4;
squandering two break points with
woeful groundstrokes into the net
before the pressure led Djokovic to
double fault on the third break point
of the game.
Parity nearly wasn't formally restored -
Murray saving a break point with an
ace that HawkEye showed only caught
a sliver of the line, before rescuing
another again thanks to a clutch serve
- but the Scot eventually found a way.
Re-energised by that recovery - and
perhaps noticing, like many others on
Centre Court, that Djokovic was not
enjoying complete control of his own
delivery - the US Open champion
drove home his advantage at 5-5,
creating two break points with a
couple of pinpoint passing shots. The
first came and went as a rare rasping
serve from Djokovic left him a simple
put-away but the second was taken,
Djokovic dipping another forehand
into the net to fall behind again.
Murray would subsequently make no
mistake - sealing both a love-service
game and the set with an ace - to give
himself a two-set advantage, just as
he did nine months ago at Flushing
Meadows.
On that occasion Djokovic roared back
with interest to force a decisive fifth
set, a scenario that perhaps finally
turned Murray - who responded so
well to the challenge - into the player
he now is.
Perhaps underlining that growth, the
Brit set about extending his advantage
at the start of the third, breaking once
again as he forced his flustered
opponent into corners he could not
escape from.
A second break was there for the
taking when Djokovic double-faulted
to start his second service game of the
stanza, but the world No. 1 found his
truest form for a few minutes to avoid
falling into a deficit that even he would
not have been able to escape from.
Djokovic has long had a reputation for
finding his best tennis when his back
is most against the wall and so he
showed that battling quality once
again, breaking Murray from nowhere
(after an agonising missed volley) to
clamber back on third set terms.
From almost nowhere, it was Djokovic
with the momentum - as he broke for
a second successive occasion after
another Murray forehand bundled
weakly into the net. But, yet again, he
was unable to capitalise fully - giving
up two break chances in his very next
service game.
The first was saved with a throwback
serve-and-volley combination but the
second was not; Murray moving his
opponent around the court and
ultimately leaving him unable to get a
reaching forehand back in play.
Buoyed by that, and with the
confidence of knowing he had done it
so many times already in the contest,
Murray broke Djokovic again - setting
him up to serve for the match.
If the first two sets had been slightly
lacking in quality, then by now the
standard was as high as any match
that had preceded it in the
tournament. Three exquisite points
created three championship-clinching
chances - but Djokovic found two
utterly ridiculous returns to somehow
force a deuce.
Then came the Serbian's openings -
two break point opportunities
snatched away as Murray dug deep in
two classy rallies. A third rally, sealed
with a scrambling put-away, then
created a fourth shot at history for
Murray.
This would be the one that took, the
one that etched the young man from
Dunblane into a country's proud
sporting history.
A great serve immediately had
Djokovic on the back foot and, after
another probing forehand deep from
Murray, the delicate noise of ball
falling against net from the Serbian's
end sparked the largest roar SW19
has perhaps ever heard.
"You absolutely deserve this win,"
Djokovic told his vanquisher in the
aftermath. "You played incredible
tennis.
The Serbian added: "I am aware of
the pressure he gets, and to pull up a
championship tournament this year is
a great achievement. I gave it my all, it
was an honour to be a part of this
match."