ANDY MURRAY TRIUMPHS AT WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIP TWICE! SORRY MILOS RAONIC, BUT FRED PERRY IS SMILING DOWN FROM THE BIG GRASS COURT IN THE SKY

Written by: on 10th July 2016
Wimbledon Championships
ANDY MURRAY TRIUMPHS AT WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIP TWICE! SORRY MILOS RAONIC, BUT FRED PERRY IS SMILING DOWN FROM THE BIG GRASS COURT IN THE SKY

epa05418769 Andy Murray of Britain kisses the championship trophy following his win over Milos Raonic of Canada in the men's singles final of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 10 July 2016. EPA/ANDY RAIN EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO COMMERCIAL SALES  |

By Ricky Dimon

 

First it was Serena Williams who finished runner-up at the Australian Open and French Open before getting over the final hurdle and triumphing at Wimbledon. Andy Murray, also second best in Melbourne and Paris, followed suit on Sunday afternoon at the All-England Club. Murray lifted the winner’s trophy for the second time in his career by beating Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in two hours and 48 minutes.

 

“Last time it was just pure relief, and I didn’t really enjoy the moment as much,” the world No. 2 explained, “whereas I’m going to make sure I enjoy this one more.”

 

Not too surprisingly, a single break of serve decided the opening set of this one. It came when Murray, who had failed to convert a break-point opportunity at 1-1, capitalized on his third chance of the match thanks to a netted forehand volley off the Raonic racket at 3-3, 30-40.

 

Raonic almost fell into a massive hole right away in the second set, but he saved one break point when Murray dumped a forehand in the net and managed to hold. The Canadian fought off two more break points at 4-4, both thanks to noticeably tight errors by Murray.

 

After turning in a Herculean effort just to force a tiebreaker, Raonic threw it all away with the set on the line. He butchered a short volley on his first service point and soon found himself facing deficits of 3-0 and 6-1. At 6-3, Murray came up with a second serve off the line that his opponent could not handle.

 

“I was keeping up with him,” Raonic reflected, “but then when it counted, I wasn’t able to get on top.”

 

The story was a similar one in three, with the underdog clinging to life support en route to another tiebreaker before Murray seized complete control. The Scot pocketed an immediate mini-break for 2-0 with a backhand pass and struck again for 3-0 when Raonic shanked a forehand. Murray soon built leads of 5-0 and 6-1 before converting his second championship point by forcing Raonic into a backhand error.

 

Milos Raonic of Canada returns to Andy Murray of Britain in the men’s singles final of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 10 July 2016. EPA/GERRY PENNY

“I don’t really think so,” the world No. 6 responded when asked if playing in his first Grand Slam final was overwhelming. “I think it was more… you know you’re not going to play your best tennis by any means. You sort of have to dig it out. That’s pretty much the thing you’re fighting against the most, trying to find the level that’s good enough.”

 

Rarely has Murray’s level been good enough in major finals, as he had previously been 2-9 lifetime in such situations. A big reason, of course, for such a futile record was that each of Murray’s first 11 slam finals came against either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic. With two of the greatest players ever out of the way, it was once again Murray’s time in London.

 

“I don’t mind failing,” Murray said. “Failing’s okay, [provided] that you’ve given your best and put everything into it…. I put myself in a position all of the time in these events to win them; haven’t won them all of the time. I’ve lost a lot of close ones against great players most of the time.

 

“I wasn’t really thinking too much about the previous matches that I played against anyone. I just saw this more as an opportunity to try and win another Wimbledon title.”

 

Mission: accomplished.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.