Murray falters, Britain has to wait longer as Federer triumphs

One of my friends tweeted ‘What India tried for centuries, Federer did at Centre Court ” – ‘making Britains cry’. He is 31 and is not slowing down !  Federer will return to Wimbledon in three weeks, where he will aim to win his first singles gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.  UK’s 76 year wait added another year at Wimbledon…….  Before that can you identify this logo ?

It was not a sensational one, but had all the ingredients of a good one – Andy Murray almost ran away with the first set, displaying tremendous athleticism and energy – he was everywhere reaching out to the ball, fell down but got up sooner and was bubbling.  Federer came back strongly in the second, then there was the rain disruption, after which – the match was the never the same – it was Federer all the way from then on.  

This victory places Federer a giant leap ahead with the return to World No. 1 whence he  will tie Sampras’ all-time record of 286 weeks in the top spot. At 30 years and 335 days, he is the second-oldest man to hold the No. 1 ranking, behind Andre Agassi who was 33 years and 131 days old. He was dethroned from the top spot by Nadal on 7 June 2010.  In defeating Andy Murray in four sets to capture a record-tying seventh trophy at The Championships, Federer will rise to No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on Monday, 9 July, 2012 – and with this win at Wimbledon Federer has 17 major titles to his credit.

Frederick John Perry (1909-1995) was a championship-winning English tennis and table tennis player who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slams and two Pro Slams. Perry won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships from 1934 to 1936 and was World No. 1 four years in a row. Perry also became the last British player to win the men's Wimbledon championship in 1936, and subsequently became the last British player to win a Men's singles Grand Slam title, becoming champion at the U.S. National Championships in the same year.

Perry was sure a champion as he was the first to win all  4 Grand Slam singles titles – though not all in the same year; he completed them at the age of 26.  He helped Britain to win Davis Cup over France in 1933.   Perry was acclaimed across the tennis world, but was not universally admired in his homeland, and was widely ostracised by the tennis establishment for turning professional after completing a hat-trick of Wimbledon singles triumphs.  In 1942, he was drafted into the US Air Force during the Second World War.   His significance to the game and to the Wimbledon championship are marked by the Fred Perry Gates and his statue in the club's grounds, put up in 1984 to mark the 50th anniversary of his first singles title.

Andrew "Andy" Murray, was born in 1987  in Scotland.  Murray is the British No. 1 and ranked No. 4 in the world. Murray achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on 16 April 2007. He has been runner-up in four Grand Slam finals: the 2008 US Open, the 2010 Australian Open, the 2011 Australian Open, and 2012 Wimbledon, losing three to Roger Federer and one to Novak Djokovic.  Murray is the only British player to reach the Wimbledon men's singles final in the Open Era (the last being Bunny Austin in 1938, when the tournament was restricted to amateurs).

This time, the entire stadium was backing him and was chanting wildly, as Federer wrapped up his record-tying seventh Wimbledon singles title by winning his final service game of the match.  There were so many rich and famous in the partisan crowd at  the All England Club – which included  David Cameroon.  Eventually Federer won  4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. In the moments after the match, Murray did manage to get the spotlight back from his competitor by delivering a tearful speech.

Perhaps proving to be a Nation of hopers, none wanted to miss the probability of  great British millstone being erased from the record books as there were boisterous crowds.  National fervour had gripped the country since Murray beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga  setting up the  final, for which tickets reportedly were changing hands at high premium.   Union Jack clad fans filled every corner and shouted for Andy.  The rain after the second set changed the entire course, though by that time, Federer was starting to look ominous.  

Coming back to Fred Perry, he endorsed products at that era itself.  First it was a sweatband and then a sports shirt  to be made from white knitted cotton pique with short sleeves and a buttoned placket like René Lacoste's shirts. Launched at Wimbledon in 1952, the Fred Perry tennis shirt was an immediate success.  The Fred Perry shirt became the garment-of-choice for diverse groups of teenagers throughout the 1960s and 70s, ranging from the skinheads to the Northern soul scene.  The brand's logo is a laurel wreath. It was based on the original symbol for Wimbledon. The logo, which appears on the left breast of a garment, is stitched into the fabric of the shirt.  The brand is now owned by a Japanese corporation. The brand was previously the clothing sponsor of British tennis player Andy Murray.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.