Andy Murray follows in Fred Perry’s footsteps 76 years on

Finally! We’ve waited seventy six years for a Briton to win a grand slam title since Fred Perry was the last British player to do so. Weirdly Fred Perry won his last title on 10th September, the same day as Andy Murray won his first grand slam title, the first ever for Scotland. A year of great ‘firsts’ and triumphs for Murray, all richly deserved.

This is what British Grand Slam tennis champions looked like seventy odd years ago:

Fred Perry, Paris 1930s: SKU 20171

Fred Perry on court at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris in the 1930s: SKU 20171

Murray, Marray & Olympic Misery

Wimbledon this year was thrilling to watch: all the finals were absolutely gripping let alone what had gone before to enable the finalists to be there at the end. There is no question that Andy Murray played phenomenally against possibly the best tennis player of all time. He should be incredibly proud of himself and so should we be of him.

If ever, however, there were an unsung British hero in the history of Wimbledon battles, it has to be Jonathan Marray, the first British men’s Wimbledon doubles champion since 1936. Somehow he completely slipped under the feverish media radar of British tennis talent to  play sublimely with Denmark’s Frederick Nielsen & take the 2012 doubles championship from the dour favourites (and three times runners-up), Lindstedt & Tecau…so of course it makes blinding sense that Marray won’t be representing Team GB at London 2012 (NOT)! Read this Independent article and weep:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/britain-has-no-place-in-olympic-games-for-jonathan-marray-the-history-man-7923517.html