Murray ends Britain’s wait

NEW YORK – Britain’s long wait is over. The nation that invented modern tennis finally has a champion for the new age after Andy Murray won the U.S. Open on Monday.The jokes about wooden rackets and men playing tennis in long, white trousers have lost their punchline and Fred Perry, the last British man to win a grand slam single title way back in 1936, can rest in peace.It has been a long and agonising wait for Murray too. The 25-year-old Scot, a naturally shy, introverted man, has carried the weight of expectation since the moment he emerged as the potential drought-breaker.Unfairly branded a ‘choker’ after losing his first four grand slam final appearances, Murray silenced his critics and exorcised his own doubts forever when he beat the defending champion Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller.“I have been asked about it many times when I got close to winning grand slams before,” he said.“I hope now it inspires some kids to play tennis and also takes away the notion that British tennis players choke or don’t win, or it’s not a good sport.”In 2010, Murray cried when he lost the Australian Open final to Roger Federer and he sobbed again when he lost to the Swiss master at Wimbledon in July.But on Monday, under the bright lights of New York City’s national tennis centre, he shed tears of a joy as the heavy burden was lifted from his shoulders with a rousing 7-6 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 victory.It has been a long and hard road to the top for Murray, who was born in Glasgow and raised in Dunblane.When he was 15, he moved to Barcelona to further his tennis career and in 2008, he made his first grand slam final, at the U.S. Open, losing in straight sets.He made the Australian Open final in 2010 and again a year later, but the results were the same, triggering doubts in his own mind even though he was an established top player and regular winner of Masters events.Lendl factorEarlier this year, he hired former world number one Ivan Lendl as his coach and things started to change.He became the first British man to reach the final at Wimbledon since Bunny Austin in 1938 and although he lost, he at least managed to win a set.Then a few weeks later, he avenged his loss to Federer when he won the gold medal on the same Wimbledon Centre Court at the London Olympics and arrived at Flushing Meadows with renewed confidence.“The Olympics was obviously huge for me. It was the biggest week of my life,” Murray said. “But still today, before the match when I was sitting in the locker room beforehand, there are still doubts.As Federer’s relentless pursuit of grand slams slows with age and Rafa Nadal’s creaking knees continue to trouble him, Murray and Djokovic are rapidly emerging as the sport’s next great rivals.

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Murray ends Britain’s wait