Andy Murray
captured the biggest title of his career with an emphatic victory over Roger
Federer in the Olympic men's singles final at Wimbledon.
“It's number one for me - the biggest win of my
life”
Andy
Murray
Murray beat the Swiss world number one in straight sets,
6-2 6-1 6-4, on a raucous Centre Court.
The 25-year-old is the first British man to win the Olympic singles gold
medal since Josiah Ritchie in 1908.
He had never beaten Federer in a best-of-five-sets match and lost to him in
this year's Wimbledon final.
Murray's triumph came four weeks to the day since that 6-4 5-7 3-6 4-6
loss to Federer at the All England Club.
"It's number one for me - the biggest win of my life," said Murray.
"I have had a lot of tough losses in my career and this is the best way to
come back from the Wimbledon final."
Murray later faced a second Olympic final in a day, but he and mixed doubles
partner Laura Robson could not overcome Belarusian top seeds Victoria
Azarenka and Max Mirnyi. They lost 2-6 6-3 10-8 in a champions' tie-break
decider and had to settle for silver.
Team GB remain third in the London 2012 medal table, with Murray's singles
triumph in just an hour and 56 minutes the 16th gold medal of a glorious Games
for the host nation.
Afterwards he climbed into the stands to celebrate with his girlfriend,
family and support team as Federer again missed out on the one accolade missing
from his CV.
Murray then mounted the podium with Federer and bronze medallist Juan Martin
del Potro of Argentina, who beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4 in an hour and
48 minutes earlier in the day.
There were no obvious tears, but it was clear how much this meant to Murray
as he sang along to parts of the national anthem and then draped himself in a
union jack.
Having suffered a shock first-round defeat by 77th-ranked Yen-Hsun Lu in
Beijing four years ago, he will be delighted to have contributed this time
round.
Murray becomes the first Briton to claim an Olympic
men's singles medal since Charles Dixon took silver at the 1920 event in
Antwerp.
Victorious over Djokovic in the semi-finals, Murray troubled an error-strewn
Federer from the outset. After saving two break points in the opening game of
the match, he broke serve in game six before holding for 5-2 with two booming
aces.
Murray buried a backhand passing shot to wrap up the 37-minute first set but,
given he also took the opener in the Wimbledon final, there remained a sense of
caution around the stadium.
That caution turned into belief when a forehand pass clipped a net cord to
elude Federer in game two of the second set and he then saved six break points
to hold for 3-0.
Federer looked agitated and his fans dejected and a rare double fault let
Murray strike again before the Scot swiftly served out to extend his advantage.
The Scot's performance continued to improve as his opponent's faded and
Federer's delivery was breached decisively in game five of the third set as
Murray powered towards the finishing line, dropping just one point on serve as
he closed out with an ace.
"I didn't expect that at the start of the week," added Murray after
collecting his gold medal. "I thought I'd go deep into the tournament but I felt
so fresh today. It's amazing."
