Andy Murray Celebrates His Wimbledon Title [Video]

and watched by 500,000 in the USA

July 8th, 2013 at 10:55 pm

We are entering the Murray era.

July 8th, 2013 at 11:26 pm

Did ABC really keep Andy waiting for a freaking hour? What is the story behind that?

July 8th, 2013 at 11:38 pm

I believe that if Andy has to win more slams, grass will be his most preferred surface, but the question is how many can he win at Wimbledon? Federer is aging, Rafa is vulnerable in early rounds and And is a much better that Nole on grass. Nole has yet to win a set against Andy on grass. He has lost only one match in last 2 years on grass now. Defeating Nole in finals is big but defeating in straight sets will do him a world of good leading to the Open to defend his title. But i will believe Nole will the favorite when it comes to hard court slams.

July 9th, 2013 at 12:45 am

The entire British is in the nine cloud. Soooo happy for them!

July 9th, 2013 at 1:01 am

^ waving at you all from way up in the sky :)

July 9th, 2013 at 1:09 am

“and watched by 500,000 in the USA”

Since the ESPN viewing figures haven’t been released yet you must either be the new Jamie or have plucked that figure out of a place where the sun doesn’t shine.

July 9th, 2013 at 1:49 am

Here we go:

“Nearly 2.5 million people watched ESPN’s coverage of the tense, three-set duel in which Murray defeated No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic of Serbia. (ABC rebroadcast the match later Sunday, but ABC’s audience totals will not be available until later in the week.)”

“ESPN’s gamble to serve more tennis appears to be paying off as the sports network said last weekend’s Wimbledon championship matches produced some of the highest ratings for tennis in ESPN’s 33-year history.”

http://tinyurl.com/nzb9wns

July 9th, 2013 at 2:49 am

It’s great that the match got such a large audience, but the constant claims that “all of Britain” was passionately involved, are wide of the mark. The number one sport in the UK is football, by a mile. Except for the later stages of tournaments where Andy does well, the radio news begins with football and the bigger-selling newspapers almost ignore tennis. Most of the online Murray-haters here are footy fans.

On top of this, there is the oft-forgotten fact that very many people can’t stand sport in any shape or form, and would switch off radio or TV hastily, to avoid it.

On the subject of the mooted knighthood, I am dead against it, as I am against honours for any sports players, pop stars, etc.
The Honours List is supposed to provide recognition. Well, sports stars and pop stars already have recognition in the shape of popularity and earnings. When a tennis player, or any sports player, starts their career, how many of them dream of getting a “gong”? Their ambitions are all about the sport. If Andy is knighted, I guarantee his mood will be polite but embarrassed.

As I’ve said before, the Royal Family is interested mainly in equestrian sports, but it’s worth recalling that the Queen’s father, before he became King George VI, was a fair tennis player, and even competed – unsuccessfully – in doubles at Wimbledon!

July 9th, 2013 at 4:16 am

It was widely reported that Andy donated the entire prize money he earned from winning the Queens Title to Royal Marsden Hospital functioning for Cancer Research and Treatment. There is now intense speculation that he has donated his entire Wimbledon earnings also to the above cause, although this is yet to be confirmed. More than his winning Wimbledon, Andy has really touched my heart with this humanitarian gesture which showed to me the other side of Andy – a Rationale Human who not only cares for Tennis but also the World to make it a finer place to live in. It is a great gesture and the most awesome and noble thing to do. My hats off to Andy who is a true Champion.

July 9th, 2013 at 5:11 am

I can’t imagine Andy being very keen on the idea either Colin, the least likely I’d say.
Hope they hold back on that one, until his career is over at least.
Someone made the point too, that Ginny hasn’t got the equivalent.

July 9th, 2013 at 5:14 am

@ Margot – I hope they hold back too. He couldn’t care less about that and it’ll only enrage the haters. However, didn’t Wiggins get a knighthood for the TDF? I fear they’re going to do it.

July 9th, 2013 at 7:13 am

They won’t hold back, because Cameron will see some political gain in the idea.

“The Honours List is supposed to provide recognition”. Occasionally this happens. A completely unknown person is rewarded for selfless activity. Very rare. Generally it’s the recognized getting even more recognition – not just pop stars and sportsmen, either. Bankers (bankers!),literary coves, classical conductors – so it goes on – an anthropologist’s delight.

July 9th, 2013 at 7:41 am

^ Yes I fear you’re right. Cameron strikes me as an opportunistic politician.

July 9th, 2013 at 7:52 am

All politicians are opportunistic.

July 9th, 2013 at 9:02 am

Apparently some lady journalist yesterday ventured to ask Murray if he is thinking of marrying Kim. His response: “I only met you ten minutes ago, so you wouldn’t be the first I’d tell.”

Now the sensible members of the public have decided Andy isn’t such a bad chap, I hope he allows himself the occasional dig at the press. OK, it’s their job to ask “probing” questions, but then they did chose the profession.

By the way, in the furore over the brick-dropping exploits of John Inverdale, I’d forgotten an earlier episode. During the Queen’s tournament, there was mention of John Lloyd’s brother David as a possible LTA head, and the numbing Andrew Castle said Lloyd had personal problems which would disqualify him, though he didn’t elaborate. The BBC issued an apology, and Castle made a financial settlement. Maybe they should sack all the commentators and have done with it. Bring back Dan Maskell!

July 9th, 2013 at 9:28 am

nice celebrations. andy really did get himself into a better postion fitness wise and mentally to start winning these matches. maybe gluten free novak was part of the inspiration.

July 9th, 2013 at 10:46 am

These are the figures from Tennis Talk site. Check it out.

US viewership drops like a stone for Wimbledon
7/6/13 6:03 AM | Johan Lindahl
Nielsen rating figures in the US show a paltry audience on sports channels ESPN and ESPN2 of less than 598,000 viewers in a nation of 320 million.

July 9th, 2013 at 11:41 am

Johan Lindahl the intrepid journalist. LOL Did he have a link?

I think I’d prefer to believe the LA Times & ESPN themselves:

“ESPN’s gamble to serve more tennis appears to be paying off as the sports network said last weekend’s Wimbledon championship matches produced some of the highest ratings for tennis in ESPN’s 33-year history.”

“Nearly 2.5 million people watched ESPN’s coverage of the tense, three-set duel in which Murray defeated No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic of Serbia. (ABC rebroadcast the match later Sunday, but ABC’s audience totals will not be available until later in the week.)”

http://tinyurl.com/nzb9wns

Nice try.

July 9th, 2013 at 11:45 am

“a Rationale Human who not only cares for Tennis but also the World to make it a finer place to live in”

An interesting statement. Tennis players and golfers tend to be really big into charity. I suspect that because they travel to so many places (many of which are lacking basic human necessities), they gain an appreciation of how important it is to give back and at least try to make their world a better place. Nobody will ever remember a tennis match in 2013 in the year 2213. But, when you help build a school or hospital, it leaves a lasting mark that really does make the world a better.

Good on ya’ Andy.

July 9th, 2013 at 12:24 pm

racquet, thank you for posting something based on facts. The TV viewership numbers you quoted is accurate and based on news reports. Some people are too lazy to do a little research before posting and as a result, they look really stupid.

July 9th, 2013 at 3:34 pm

Were those figures announce for U.S. only or were they global numbers? Didn’t see that in the link…..

Nice to see the Bryans were watched :-)

July 9th, 2013 at 3:49 pm

@ Polo

Thanks. I always prefer facts.

@ skeezer

Those were US only. They don’t include ratings for the ABC replay. I’m not sure where to find global viewing figures. The point is, yes, viewer figures were down on last year but not as drastically low as stated earlier upthread.

July 9th, 2013 at 4:01 pm

Murray’s win is the second most-watched Wimbledon match of all time, after Bjorn Borg’s five-set victory over John McEnroe back in 1980, which scored 17.3m(via BBCone)

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/news/a496477/andy-murrays-wimbledon-victory-scores-biggest-tv-ratings-of-2013.html#ixzz2Ya7ANw7g

July 9th, 2013 at 4:18 pm

Agree with Colin in that i hope they dont offer Andy a knighthood,and whats more i hope that Andy would politely decline it anyway,the whole concept of the already rich and famous getting even more recognition for merely doing something that they get overpaid and enjoy anyway is all rather irritating,why not knight the real unsung heros fighting wars etc.

July 10th, 2013 at 7:20 am

One last post to demonstrate just how huge this was for the Brits. Some video of reactions to MP from crowds who had gathered in front of large screens at spots ranging from Tower Bridge & Bristol to Edinburgh:

Edinburgh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL3W8RDhqSk

Tower Bridge
http://theavoidanceofsameness.tumblr.com/post/54929781460/andy-murray-wins-and-the-crowd-goes-wild

Bristol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nxvOVgu0Sc

Kind if a big deal ;)

July 10th, 2013 at 1:37 pm

The DA fantastic scenes thanks for the links,if you could bottle and sell the way Britain must be feeling right now,you would make a small fortune,A-MAZ-ING,im ignoring the sour graping comments from the haters,as Margot says nothing but nothing can rain on the parade of this fantastic win,i think the Murray fans deserve to be happy and celebrate the win,god knows they have waited patiently enough for it;)..

July 10th, 2013 at 2:18 pm

Furthur more i love the GC season and the whole Wimbledon tradition and i always have,i just wish the season were longer,no disrespect either to Roger,Rafa,Novak and the rest,but to finally have a home champion is just the icing on the cake,i am walking on cloud nine i feel so happy,this summer in Britain has been crap,but now we have sunshine and a British Wimbledon champion i will remember Sunday 7th July 2013 for the rest of my life i am soooo happy ha ha.

July 10th, 2013 at 2:55 pm

What a great round up of the Murray post win media spots. He is tremendously fit and prepared, so glad he got his mind right to win that last game. Keep going Andy

July 10th, 2013 at 8:44 pm

Funny Brits. 1 Wimbledon = Knighthood? My boy Djoko will thrash ‘Sir’ Andy Murray in straight sets at USO. Nole rules the hardcourts.

July 11th, 2013 at 4:00 pm

^I suppose seeing so many people so happy and celebrating, must be a very bitter pill for some people to have to swallow^.

July 11th, 2013 at 4:21 pm

If roger was a brit, then he would already been crowned king.
#No other way around it.
#set in stone
#done deal
#GOAT

July 11th, 2013 at 5:50 pm

^He already is the king,the king of tennis,i dont believe anyone was saying otherwise,but this is Murrays finest hour,and a time for him and his fans to enjoy,Rogers had his lions share,so let someone else have theirs^.

July 12th, 2013 at 8:20 am