From Rookie to Champion: Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Journey

2005: First match, first victory, first thrills

Andy Murray was a very young player, 18 years old, when he appeared at Wimbledon in the summer of 2005. The first Grand Slam tournament of his career. The British public is mourning the hopes of Tim Henman, who spent ten years chasing the London Grail, in vain. But the crowd is not yet ready to transfer its dreams of grandeur onto this young Scot, ranked 374th in the world, who is said to be promising but about whom we still don’t know much. In any case, seeing him as the successor to Fred Perry, who has been waiting since 1936, seems optimistic…

For his big debut, Murray faces a certain George Bastl. The Swiss was never Federer, but he made Wimbledon history in 2002 by eliminating Pete Sampras in the second round. He will forever remain the one who ended the Wimbledon career of the seven-time tournament winner. Murray won in three sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to experience the first highlight of his career. “I didn’t really know him, but he has a very solid game and he served very well today,” said Bastl.

Then the young Briton did even better in the second round by eliminating Radek Stepanek, again in three sets, on the day of Henman’s elimination. The torch is passed… In the last 16, his budding fairy tale ends against the 2002 finalist, David Nalbandian. However, Andy led two sets to nothing, before getting stuck physically. “I proved to myself that I can play with the best but now I have to learn to do it 30 weeks a year,” he says. But the birth certificate is quite a promise.

2006: Roddick on the mat

In one year, he has grown. A first title, in San Jose, in February 2006. An entry into the Top 50. Then, at Wimbledon, a real great feat. After beating Massu and Benneteau, Andy Murray challenges the Andy of reference at the time, Roddick. Especially here. The American, 5th in the world, was in the final the two previous years against Roger Federer. On the Centre Court, we say to ourselves that the step is perhaps still a little too high for the Kid from Glasgow (even if he had already beaten him in San Jose), but he wins in three sets (7-6, 6-4, 6-4) with in particular an ability to restart Roddick’s serve which amazes everyone.

For Roddick, a gigantic slap in the face. “He moves well, he moves well, but above all, he has this ability to hit the ball while being in movement,” summarized the American. Murray put his hand on his face after the match point, as if he didn’t really believe it. However, the best was him, by far. Qualified for the round of 16, he began to make the public dream with this victory but the return to earth was brutal: he lost in the next round against Marcos Baghdatis, in three sets (6-3, 6-4, 7- 6). It prevents. He left his mark.

2008 : Andy biscuit

Perhaps THE match that changed the game the most for Andy Murray. Not just here, at Wimbledon, but in his entire career. And that may also be true of his opponent in this round of 16, a certain Richard Gasquet. The trajectory of the two men will reverse, in this match, and in the future. We forget it but, before this duel, Richard Gasquet is ahead of Andy Murray. He has already played in the Masters. Not the Scot. He is in the Top 10 in the rankings. Not Murray. That day, on the Centre Court, Gasquet is also well above his opponent for three sets… minus one game.

He leads 7-5, 6-3, 5-4, serve to follow. Broken on a double fault, the Biterrois will bow in five sets at nightfall. The Murray chrysalis is definitely molting during this crazy comeback and the image of Muzz showing his biceps to the London public was explicit. At the end of this tournament, Murray will pass Gasquet in the rankings. It is clearly the day he became a champion and when Murray Mania was born in the United Kingdom. So, yes, he is swept away in the quarters by a Rafael Nadal who will be the future winner of the tournament, but he will never be the same again.

Andy Murray in 2008 at Wimbledon after his epic victory against Richard Gasquet.

Credit: Getty Images

2012: At the top of Olympus

Let’s project ourselves four years ahead. Andy Murray has become a big name. But there is a but. Against Federer, Nadal and now Djokovic, he is the fourth man, the one who always lacks something. Including at Wimbledon. Semi-finalist in 2009, 2010 and 2011, he has just reached the final for the first time in this 2012 edition. But he fails at the gates of glory against Federer, back on top. This is already his fourth failure in a Grand Slam final, after the 2008 US Open and the Australian Open in 2010 and 2011.

Then came the Olympic Games. In London. At Wimbledon, therefore, as far as tennis is concerned. This time, Murray holds his first triumph. In the semi-final, he dominated Djokovic in two sets before crushing Federer in the final (6-2, 6-1, 6-4). So, it’s certainly not a Grand Slam title, but this Olympic coronation at home, in the absolute temple of tennis, by clearly taking over two of the three giants of world tennis, will do the Briton a lot of good . At 25, he is ready to take the plunge. A month and a half later, he will lift the trophy at the US Open to definitively change dimension.

London 2012: Murray finally crowned in his own garden

2013: Fred Perry, here he is

The day of glory. Under a bright sun, nothing will spoil the party that has been awaited for 77 years. Andy Murray will not be knighted by Prince Charles until 2019, but it is on July 7, 2013 that he becomes the king by finally winning Wimbledon. A dream final for him, won again against Novak Djokovic (6-4, 7-5, 6-4), as in Flushing the previous year.

Three sets, but still more than three hours, and an incredibly intense and stressful end to the match: in the last game, Djokovic saves three match points (at 40-0!) and gets three break points before the entire stadium and the entire country are liberated. No victory in Andy Murray’s career weighs more heavily than this one. This is not a new Grand Slam victory, it is a first Wimbledon title, at the end of almost eight decades of drought for British men’s tennis.

In one year, what a change: Olympic gold, the US Open, and now Wimbledon. Andy has become a winner, a real one. “I don’t think he’s changed much physically or tactically. It’s mostly mental,” Djokovic emphasizes. “For me, he’s now understood what he needs to do to win these very big matches that he used to lose a lot.” “I still can’t believe it happened,” the Scotsman admits at a press conference. And yet, yes. Wimbledon is his.

2016: Prince of Wimbledon, King of the World

This second victory at Wimbledon may not have the historical or even emotional significance of the first, but it anchors Murray a little more in the legend of the tournament, of British tennis and of tennis in general. Apart from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who pushed him to five sets in the quarter-finals, the Briton generally strolled, winning his six other matches in three sets, including the final against Milos Raonic.

This time, no Federer, Djokovic or Nadal in his way. But you don’t choose your painting or the circumstances. The Big 3 is entering a semester which will be very complicated for it, between injuries and a slight hint of weariness, for Djokovic in the last case. On the contrary, Murray is entering the most prosperous period of his career. After Wimbledon, will come a new Olympic title, in Rio, the Masters at the end of the year and the accession to the place of world number one. He is therefore no longer just the prince of Wimbledon, but the master of the world. It won’t last, but he got to the top, and Wimbledon played a major role in that journey.

2017: The beginning of the end

When the 2017 edition of Wimbledon begins, Andy Murray is world number one and the Kingdom believes he is ready to seek a third title at the All England Club. Except his body is starting to betray him. In the spring, his elbow creaked. Despite his semi-final at Roland-Garros, he lacks benchmarks and confidence. We tell ourselves that the grass will help, but after an early outing at Queen’s, no one really understands the extent of the problem: his hip is causing him pain and will give up on him for good.

He did, however, reach the quarter-finals, where he faced Sam Querrey. The Scot led two sets to one, then collapsed, 6-1, 6-1 in the last two sets. A bolt from the blue at Wimbledon. Andy lost his title and his place as world number one, but that was far from the worst. “I have no idea how the rest of my season will turn out,” he said. He still doesn’t know the true nature of his injury or how serious it is. But it is his career that it will bring down.

It seems incredible, but this match against Sam Querrey will be his last Grand Slam quarter-final. He will never even get past the third round again. At Wimbledon, we won’t see him again until 2021. He will still have some highlights, like the five-set victory against Otte (2021) or his epic defeat against Tsitsipas last year. But everything changed in the summer of 2017. Wimbledon was the beginning of the end. His life had changed here, once again. The last time. But not for the better.

2024-06-29 21:51:00
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