Andy Murray Will Win Wimbledon One Day Say Fans

By Cara Sulieman & Martin Graham

BRAVE Andy Murray still had the backing of his adoring home fans tonight despite his disappointing defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal.

And they are convinced he WILL win Wimbledon one day.

GAME, SET & MATCH: All eyes were on Andy Murray

In the local bars a huge cheer went up as soon as Andy took first blood when the game got underway shortly before 4pm.

But even though joy soon turned to despair less than two and a half hours later, they were still hugely proud of Dunblane’s favourite son.

Ann McGillvary, 51, a housewife, thinks Murray deserves to win for his sheer grit.

Andy Murray reveals “guns” inspiration

By Alexander Lawrie

SCOTS tennis ace Andy Murray has revealed his habit of flexing his muscles after playing a good shot was inspired by US comic Will Ferrell.

And the World number three is to warm up for a crack at next month’s US Open title with a special match against his comedy hero.

The British number one is to line-up against the Hollywood funnyman at the annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at New York’s Flushing Meadow.

And after beating Rafael Nadal to reach last year’s final all the Scots Twitter addict could talk about was how “pumped” he was to meet his idol.

Murray wins over English and unites Britain 087

 

By Douglas Walker

TENNIS ace Andy Murray has finally won over his English doubters following his thrilling five set win on Monday night.

Bookmakers say Murray has always attracted strong backing from Scotland but they are now seeing unprecedented support from South of the Border.

Viewing figures for his epic victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet peaked at 10.5m with a record number expected to tune in for his clash with Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal today (Wednesday).

Bookies William Hill say his quarterfinal will also attract the largest-ever betting turnover for an individual tennis match.

Crowd-pleasing Murray, 21, wowed the Wimbledon faithful with his amazing comeback against Gasquet after being two sets and a break down.

Rupert Adams, from William Hill, says the thrilling clash has united Britain in support of Murray.

He said: “Prior to his win against Gasquet on Monday, the two biggest punts on Murray came from Scotland.

“However as things swung in his favour during the match, we saw numerous bets placed from English punters.

“Like Tim Henman, it has taken an epic match to change the perception of the entire country. 

“As well as Scotland the whole of Britain now love him too.  He has gone from zero to hero and English fans have been placing four-figure sums on him lifting the trophy.

“A home winner of Wimbledon has always scared us the most.  If Murray was to do it we would be looking at potential losses of £10m.”

Within 12 hours of the Scot’s win over Gasquet, Hills took a whopping £130,000 in bets on his match with Nadal, this despite the fact none of their shops were even open.

Mr Adams continued: “As soon as the match finished punters went straight online or picked up their phones to bet on Murray’s clash with Nadal.  It’s certainly captured the public’s imagination.

“The match is shaping up to be the biggest ever from a tennis betting perspective, we expect to take in £10m which is the amount usually staked on the FA Cup final.

“With none of the home nations qualifying for Euro2008, punters have been desperate to place patriotic bets and Murray has allowed people to do that.”

BBC viewing figures peaked at 10.5m, a 44.7 per cent share, for Murray’s win over Gasquet and this figure is sure to be eclipsed for his primetime encounter with Nadal.

The is also likely to surpass Tim Henman’s highest viewing figures of 13.1m against Michel Kratochvil in 2002 and cement the Scot as the new darling of SW19.

The previous highest number of viewers to watch a Murray match was 9.3m in 2005 when he was defeated in the third round by David Nalbandian during his Wimbledon debut.

Philip Bernie, Head of BBC TV Sport Editorial said: “We are delighted that an audience of over 10 million on BBC1 enjoyed the thrilling climax of Andy Murray’s extraordinary match with Richard Gasquet, and hope for more gripping viewing in Andy’s match with Rafa Nadal tomorrow.”