Wimbledon 2013: Talking points from the Men's final day

Murray kisses the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy following his victory in the Wimbledon Final against Djokovic at the All England Club on July 7, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Murray ends 77 years of pain

Ever since Fred Perry won his final Wimbledon, Britain has waited 77 years for a man to lift that famous golden trophy. Many have tried but they have all failed.

Now though, Andy Murray has conquered one of the great British sporting hoodoos and it was a performance worthy of that supreme accomplishment.

You just got the sense watching the final that this was almost destined to be Murray’s year. After the first three brutal games, when he had a foot on Novak Djokovic‘s serve, he almost always took advantage.

Murray converted 41% of his break point opportunities but he always seemed to take them at crucial points. He was able to change into a higher gear right at the end of the sets and Djokovic had no answer.

At 4-4 in the third set, Murray seemed to be suddenly powered rocket fuel chasing down every ball and passing the Serb with ease, incredible to think that this was after playing almost three hours in 40 degree heat.

On serve too, Murray was superb. His second serve still resembled a glorified cricket leg break but when he needed to, his first serve got him out of trouble for the majority of the match. At 4-3 in the second set, Djokovic was almost encamped in Murray territory with his best returns of the match.

But from 30-40 onwards, Murray hit seven straight first serves, all of them perfectly placed and still Djokovic got them back with interest. Eventually, the Serb couldn’t absorb any more pressure and Murray emerged victorious in a high pressure game. It was the story of the match.

In terms of the actual tennis played, the match wasn’t as good as the Djokovic vs. Juan Martin Del Potro semi-final but in terms of the weight of history and drama surrounding the match, it was un-miss-able.

The crowd were swept up in the moment and rose to the occasion just like their man on court. The roars were louder and the chants started as early as the first set rather than the final game as was the case last year.

And they didn’t care that the tennis wasn’t at the levels of Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal. All that mattered was whether Murray could finally conquer Centre Court on the final Sunday. They got their wish.

Djokovic reacts during the Gentlemen’s Singles Wimbledon Final against Murray at the All England Club on July 7, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Djokovic lacked spark

It’s hard to believe but there was another player in the final yesterday. It was just a shame that it wasn’t the man we expected to see. Djokovic had looked imperious in his progress to the final over the fortnight.

In beating Del Potro, he had to play his absolute best to outlast the massive power of Argentine and with the feats of inhuman endurance that the Serb has shown over the last three years; almost none of us really thought that Djokovic would be too affected by that epic.

After all this was a man that beat Murray in four and a half hours and then beat Nadal in five hours at the Australian Open two years later.

But on the evidence that he gave yesterday, that match really did have an effect on Djokovic’s performance. Who would have believed that Djokovic would have hit 40 unforced errors in three sets before the match started?

Who would have believed that Djokovic only broke Murray’s serve four times when he broke him six times in the opening two sets of their US Open final. From the first set onwards it was clear that something just wasn’t right with Djokovic’s game.

For starters he was coming into the net as if this was a Wimbledon of the late 90′s. It looked like he overtly trying to finish the point as early as possible to save energy for the potential third and fourth sets, instead of engaging in too many of the long baseline rallies that has got him to number one in the world.

And by his own admission, he wasn’t completely at the races mentally either. He was a break up in both the second and third sets but surrendered his serve on both occasions relatively cheaply – once on a double fault.

He frequently engaged in angry disputes with Mohamed Lahyani for close calls and tried to pull the trigger on poor balls too many times. If Djokovic was at his best, the wait for a British champion could have gone on for another year.

But with the amazing brand of tennis the Serb has brought to the game over the last three years, we almost demand too much from the man.

Murray speaks with Sue Barker as he holds the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy following his victory in the Wimbledon Final against Djokovic at the All England Club on July 7, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

What are the British press going to do now?

There is an almost sick and twisted joy in how the British press build up the hopes of a nation with an endless stream of coverage on the latest sporting event knowing that the chances of them succeeding were slim.

Whether that may be the England football team in the World Cup, the Ashes pre 2005 and a British man win Wimbledon. With Tim Henman coming so close a decade ago, the pressure of the next British hope must have been worse than the forces of the deep sea.

Murray has gone through almost hellish criticism of his mannerisms and abilities simply because with this pressure comes heightened examinations and every little detail is examined. He’s had a difficult relationship with the press over his career but over the last year, it’s begun to relax a little.

That is of course until Wimbledon begins.

Now though that pressure has been relieved like a champagne cork that has been shaken for over a minute until it finally explodes unleashing a stream of public joy and adulation. But now that Murray has finally ended the 77 year old narrative, what will the press do to find a new story.

The public won’t have the same anticipation and fascination with Murray now that he’s finally won Wimbledon. So will they hype the possibility of Murray becoming number one in the world?

Will they put even more pressure for Murray to win Wimbledon back-to-back – seeing as this is obviously logical outcome – or would they now switch their attention to the women’s game with Laura Robson and end the 36-year wait for a woman Wimbledon champion?

It will be interesting to see what happens in 12 months time because something very unusual is happening in British tennis: they’re winning!