London Olympics 2012: A precursor to Murray’s Grand Slam success

Pitted against players like Wawrinka, Gasquet, and Berdych, his quarter always looked like a hard nut to crack. But fresh from his accomplishments at Wimbledon, Andy proved to be unstoppable. So much so, he made a resolute Djokovic eat a humble pie by prevailing over him in straight sets in one of the semifinals. On the other hand, Roger Federer had to dig deep against Juan Martin del Potro, in the other semifinal.

That set up another rollicking confrontation on grass in less than a month between Murray and Federer – this time though – for the Olympic Gold Medal. As always on grass, the Swiss started as the favourite to win the final. The fact that the British No. 1 had never beaten Federer before in a best of five-setter did not augur well in former’s favour either. Andy served first and immediately saw his opponent just a point away from breaking him. That was the only time in the whole match the Scot was in any sort of trouble. He saved the break point and got out of the jail much to the relief of the live audience. After that, it was all Murray’s show.

The promised land

The first two sets ended in no time with the local favourite reigning supreme in both. Never before in his career, Federer had to meet such an ignominy on grass. Murray gave him a pounding of his life time through some mind-blowing forehands, leaving Federer clueless. The Swiss tried everything possible to avoid the humiliation of losing in straight sets, but Murray was in no mood to sympathise whatsoever. The roar which followed Andy’s victory in straight sets over his most celebrated opponent, said it all.

It was definitely not a Grand Slam, but it was almost like winning one, as the Gold medalist himself later revealed. That was the tiny spark which the Brit needed to restructure his career. It did not take time for him to realise his dream as his moment of glory followed very soon. He reached the final of the US Open for only the second time in his career. This time though, he was not ready to capitulate. By winning the US Open last year by beating Novak Djokovic in the final, he captured his first ever Grand Slam title. More importantly, he got through that final in five sets.

Normally, he was not known to show any kind of resilience when matches go the distance. But, it was one of those days when Andy showed to the whole world that he had it in him, the tenacity to maintain his mental stamina as long as his presence was required on the court. Having won his first ever Grand Slam, it became imperative for him to win a few more to stop being regarded as a “one-slam wonder.” The Brit did precisely that. Despite losing out in the final of this year’s Australian Open, he hardly let go his focus.

He chose to stay away from French Open where his chances of winning were not that great and instead laid his concentration firmly on Wimbledon. The ploy worked as he relished the moment of lifting the Wimbledon trophy for the first time ever in his career. Dominating the entire match, he swept past the World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets, providing much needed relief for all British fans who were happy to see the nearly eight decade long jinx to see a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon finally coming to an end. It would only be an understatement if we cite his Olympic triumph as the reason for all his subsequent achievements. If Murray becomes the proud owner of a few more slams, he would be looking back at his Olympic triumph, which started it all for him.