Andy Murray’s main memories of the biggest moment of his life are of tension and fatigue.
“I remember it being unbelievably stressful and then at the end of it huge relief,” he says of the victory over Novak Djokovic that ended Great Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon.
The year before had ended with Murray choked by tears on Centre Court following defeat by Roger Federer in his first final.
Twelve months later and with a long-awaited first slam title under his belt in New York, Murray faced another of his major foes with history at his fingertips.
Friday marks the 10-year anniversary of that day and the feelings remain seared in Murray’s mind.
“I was unbelievably nervous before the final and I also remember feeling like my team were really nervous,” he tells the PA news agency.
“They were struggling to hide it. My physical trainer, when we were doing the pre-match warm-up, he was fumbling all of the balls during the reaction drills.”
Even ‘Old Stone Face’ Ivan Lendl, the coach who had helped turn Murray into a slam champion, was not immune to the tension.
“Ivan doesn’t usually talk loads but before the final he was chatting a lot and I just felt my team were feeling it as well,” adds Murray.
“After the match I was exhausted. Twenty or 30 minutes after we got off the court, I was sitting with my wife and I was wanting to sleep. That is not usually how you feel after a match, normally the adrenaline makes it hard to sleep but I was completely spent after the match.”
The history books show Murray won in straight sets, 6-4 7-5 6-4, yet even when he served for the match in a tortuous game that somehow encapsulated all his struggles, it still felt on a knife edge.
Three match points came and went, then there were three break point chances for Djokovic as the tension around Centre Court ramped up and up. Murray stood firm, saving each one confidently, before a fourth chance came the Scot’s way, and this time his opponent netted.
The reaction from Murray was of sheer wide-eyed joy mixed with disbelief before the enormity of it all caught up with him.
For his opponent, the memories are of course very different, although Djokovic could find happiness amid his disappointment for the rival just a week older than him against whom he had been competing since childhood.
“It was not a great result for me obviously in the end, painful to lose a grand slam final, especially the Wimbledon final,” says Djokovic, who has lost only twice at SW19 in the decade since.
“But I was happy for Andy because he deserved it. He was working so hard to get his hands on the Wimbledon title.
“I had to congratulate him because he was a better player that day and it was kind of a perfect scenario for Great Britain and for him as a British player to win at Wimbledon on Centre Court.”
Among the crowd living every twist and turn was an 11-year-old Jack Draper, who eight years later made his own Centre Court debut.
“Watching Andy win Wimbledon on Centre Court in 2013 was an experience that I will never forget,” says the British number four.
“I was only 11 at the time but, looking back, it was definitely a moment that made me more motivated than ever to become a professional tennis player – and compete on the biggest stages against the world’s best players.
“I was very lucky to have Andy as a role model and hope that in the future I can do the same for young players.”
The experience was not at all the same for Murray’s brother Jamie, who was notably absent among the family and friends supporting the Scot courtside.
“I watched the final on a laptop in Stuttgart with my wife,” says the doubles specialist, who had already moved on to his next tournament.
“Of course it would have been great to be there to see him win but reality was it definitely wasn’t a sure thing. He was playing Novak, he’d lost a bunch of finals to that point.
“I was just glad that he won. I didn’t really care that I missed it. Obviously it was a weird situation to find yourself watching the match. The stream wasn’t even particularly great.
“I know what it meant to him to finally get his hands on the trophy. I don’t even remember what it was like when I saw him. Everything had kind of died down by then. It was a bit lame but that’s just the way it was.”
The Wimbledon victory cemented Murray’s place as one of Britain’s sporting greats, and he followed it up three years later with a second title.
Jamie does not believe achieving his biggest goal changed his brother, saying: “He was still incredibly motivated to do the best he could on the court and try to win more grand slams, that his talent probably deserved.
“That was an amazing moment in tennis where these four guys were playing in the semis and finals of every big tournament. They hoovered up everything for so long. I know Andy only won three but he played in 11 grand slam finals, which is a crazy career when you think about it.”
Raducanu helps Great Britain reach Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals
Emma Raducanu set Great Britain on their way to the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals, as they knocked out defending champions Canada on Sunday.
Great Britain won both of their singles matches in Malaga, with Raducanu starting the day with a straight-sets victory.
She cruised through the first set before showing her mettle in the second to gain a 6-0 7-5 victory over Rebecca Marino in the early game.
Katie Boulter then secured their passage, holding off Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes, without the need for a doubles decider.
Despite being the second lowest-ranked team, Great Britain are through to the final four without dropping a set in any of their singles matches so far.
They will face Slovakia, who beat 2022 runners-up Australia earlier on Sunday to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2013.
Like Great Britain, they triumphed in both of their singles matches, with Viktoria Hruncakova and Rebecca Sramkova coming out on top to secure the unassailable lead.
ATP Finals: Sinner 'surprised' himself with 2024 success
Jannik Sinner says he has surprised himself in 2024 after capping off his incredible year with a maiden ATP Finals title on Sunday.
Sinner beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Turin to claim his eighth title of the season and become the first Italian champion in the competition.
He is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the campaign.
The 23-year-old, who had already confirmed his year-end number-one ranking in October, was delighted to finish the season on a high.
"It's amazing, it's my first title in Italy, and it means so much to me," said Sinner. "It's something very special.
"I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key.
"It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn't have played better, so I am very happy."
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after, he added: "Honestly, I have surprised myself the whole year at times, but in my mind, I know how much work I put in and how many sacrifices I have made to be in this position.
"I just try to play in the present moment."
Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, will go into 2025 as the world number four.
The 27-year-old, who also lost to Sinner in the US Open showpiece, remained upbeat despite his defeat, revelling in his success over the past 12 months instead.
"It's been a really good week for me. Obviously, it's a good way to end the year. It gives me a lot of confidence finishing the season like this," Fritz said.
"Something I told my team in 2023 when I hit world number five for a week right before I was defending the Indian Wells title, was 'That's crazy, I'm five in the world, look at all these guys ranked behind me that are probably better than me'.
"Back then I was five, but I didn't feel like I was five. Now I'm ranked where I'm at. I feel like I belong.
"It's a different feeling. It's been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That's a huge part of having the big results. The goal I set for myself at the start of the year was to finish top five."
ATP Finals: Sinner completes sensational year with Turin triumph
Jannik Sinner claimed his maiden ATP Finals title as the all-conquering world number one capped off a sensational season in style.
Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 in Turin on Sunday, claiming his eighth title of 2024 in the process.
It was a rematch of this year's US Open final, which Sinner also won, and the Italian made home advantage count in another dominant show of force befitting of his place at the top of the ATP rankings.
Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and the US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, managed to force only one break point, and even that was clawed back by Sinner at the end of the first set.
And Sinner's performance on serve was ultimately just too strong for Fritz, who was on the end of a wonderful drop-shot in the final game as his opponent delighted the crowd.
A cross-court forehand went long from Fritz on the next point to decide the match, and complete Sinner's supreme season.
Data Debrief: King of the hill
Sinner is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the season. He is the first Italian champion of this competition.
The 23-year-old has also joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals in the same year.
Having fallen at the final hurdle against Djokovic last season, Sinner was in no mood for a repeat of that heartbreak. Indeed, he went through the entirety of this year's tournament without dropping a single set, making him the first player to win the ATP Finals without giving up a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986.
Since the start of August, Sinner has won three of the four tournaments he has competed in, with his sole defeat coming to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the China Open.
While 2024 will go down as Sinner's year, Fritz can at least take solace in a fine season of his own, and he will head into 2025 as the world number four.
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