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.