Andy Murray at Wimbledon: The greatest moments
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Marking his 17th appearance at Wimbledon, Andy Murray played his last match alongside brother Jamie as the two-time champion waved goodbye to Centre Court and the crowd for one final time.
It marked the end of a relationship that has given British tennis fans some of the greatest moments in the sport’s history – including two titles that saw Murray end the 77-year wait for a British male singles champion.
Here’s a look back at some of the former world No.1s greatest moments at Wimbledon:
A Centre Court debut to remember
In 2005 an 18-year-old Andy Murray rocked up to Wimbledon as a wild card, ready to make his debut on the world famous grass courts of SW19.
Murray went on to beat George Bastl in the first round, before a shock upset over world No.13 seed Radek Stepanek in straight sets meant that he was rewarded with his first call-up to Centre Court to face former world No.3, David Nalbandian.
In what would be the first of many appearances on Centre, a young Murray wasn’t fazed by the big occasion. The British teenager took the opening two sets against the experienced Argentinian 7-6(4), 6-1 before cramp halted his performance
He battled on but, in the end, it was Nalbandian who would come through in five sets despite Murray’s efforts to fight through the pain.
Although the end result didn’t go his way, Murray had properly announced himself not only to the tennis world but to the British fans that he was one to watch for the future.
Teenager Murray takes out former runner-up Roddick
It was only the year after that Murray clinched one of his most significant victories at The Championships – taking down the runner-up in the last two tournaments and third seed Andy Roddick 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4.
The Briton saved 11 of 12 break points against the big serving American to seal not only the best win of his career but reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
"I think that's got to be my best win – beating a two-time Wimbledon finalist, former world number one and Grand Slam champion on Centre Court in three sets,” Murray said in his post-match interview with BBC Sport.
"I feel bad for Andy, he's such a great guy and a really good champion, and it's a shame I had to win against him."
Murray’s comeback over Gasquet
When you talk about famous Murray matches at Wimbledon, it’s difficult to look past his comeback against France’s Richard Gasquet.
In the fourth round back in 2008, Murray faced an uphill battle against a 22-year-old French star who led by two sets on Centre Court.
The brit faced break points at 4-3 down in the third before spurring on to clinch the set in a tie-break and then surging on to a 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory.
“That was the best moment I've ever had on a tennis court,” Murray confessed after what would become a famous win for the Brit.
“To come back from two sets to love and win it is an awesome feeling. The crowd got behind me just when I needed it and to have them behind me was a privilege.”
The semi-final breakthrough
In the years that followed Murray established himself as a top 10 player and was a regular challenger at Wimbledon – making the semi-final in 2009, 2010 and 2011, losing to Roddick and then Rafael Nadal twice.
Each time Murray came within touching distance of that elusive final but couldn’t quite get over the line – that was until 2012.
After a close battle with Spain’s David Ferrer in the quarters, Murray moved on to face a familiar foe in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the final.
Murray came into the match as a slight favourite having beaten the Frenchman in the final at Queen’s Club the year before and managed to replicate the result – coming through 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes.
In doing so, Murray became the first British man to reach the men’s singles final in 74 years and the first Brit to win in the semi-final in the last 11 attempts.
Murray would go on to face and eventually lose to Wimbledon’s most successful champion, Roger Federer, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
Not the ending that Murray or the British fans wanted, but getting past that semi and having that experience in the final would prove invaluable for the years to come.
Murray forges his Wimbledon legacy with first title
The pressure on Murray coming into 2013 was huge. The Briton had just won his first Grand Slam at the US Open, captured the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics at Wimbledon and reached the final at SW19 the year before.
The world No.2 cruised his way to the quarter-finals before having to stage another epic comeback from two sets down against Fernando Verdasco and edging past Jarry Janowicz to reach back-to-back finals.
Standing in the way of his first Wimbledon title was of course, Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian was the world No.1 and had beaten Murray in the Australian Open final earlier in the season, but nothing was going to stand in the way of the Brit realising his lifelong dream.
Murray battled past Djokovic in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to become the first British man to lift the singles title since Fred Perry in 1936.
In front of 15,000 cheering fans on Centre Court Murray fell to his knees as Djokovic’s backhand struck the net on his fourth championship point and he became immortalised in British sporting history.
Twice as nice for Murray in 2016
Murray would have to wait another three years before he found his way back to another Wimbledon final during the most successful season of his career.
The world No.2 won another five-set thriller against Tsonga in the quarter-finals before taking his fifth straight sets win of the tournament against Tomas Berdych to set up a battle with Milos Raonic.
In a repeat of The Queen’s Club final only weeks before, Murray once again prevailed, winning 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) against the big serving Canadian.
The Briton shone in the biggest moments of the match, showing his experience as he fired out to a 5-0 lead in both tie-breaks before wrapping up the third major title of his career.
"I've had some great moments here, but also some tough losses,” Murray said. “The win feels extra special because of the tough losses."
Mixed doubles dream team
There was a lot of excitement in 2019 as Murray made his comeback from hip surgery in the doubles at The Queen’s Club, with the chance that he could return to Wimbledon.
But what fans weren’t prepared for was that Murray would end up joining 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams for one of the all-time mixed doubles dream teams.
“His work ethic is just honestly off the charts," Williams said about the two-time Wimbledon winner. "That's something I've always respected about him. His fitness, everything. To do what he's done in an era where there's so many other great male tennis players, so much competition, to rise above it, not many people have done it.”
The duo were instant fan-favourites and drew some of the biggest crowds throughout the week.
‘Mur-ena’ got off to a flying start, defeating Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi 6-4, 6-1 in their opening match, before beating Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo 7-5, 6-3.
In round three, they came up against top seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar-Martinez. The British, American team fought back from a set down but eventually the doubles expertise of Soares and Atawo saw them through 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
While it was of course a disappointing loss for Murray, it was another crucial step on his road to competing again on the singles tour and returning to SW19 once again.
The singles return
In 2021, after two years of hard work, training and coming out the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, Murray finally made his triumphant singles return to Wimbledon.
His first challenge? Taking on the world No.28 and big-hitting Georgian, Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Playing his first singles match at Wimbledon in five years, Murray came out firing and got a well-earned upset win in front of his adoring fans – 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
He’d go on to win another trademark Murray five-setter from 2-1 down against Oscar Otte before losing to eventual semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov in the third round.
It proved that Murray was still capable of competing with and challenging the very best – especially on his favourite stage at Wimbledon. The former world No.1 would go on to break the world’s top 50 again and reach multiple ATP Tour finals during the twilight of his career.
One final goodbye
After a back injury at the cinch Championships meant that the 37-year-old would have to pull out of the singles draw – Murray announced that he would enter the men’s doubles with brother Jamie for the first and final time.
In the first men’s doubles first round match on Centre Court since 1995, the Murray brothers narrowly lost to Australian duo Rinky Hijikata and John Peers 7-6(6),6-4.
Following the match, Murray received a fitting tribute in front of the British fans – led by legendary presenter Sue Barker and joined by fellow greats of the sport such as John McEnroe, Novak Djokovic and Tim Henman.
Murray was also invited to speak and recounted his favourite memories at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, including those two titles and the Olympic gold medal in 2012, before leaving Centre Court to raptures of applause.
