Heat’s on England’s own
By MIKE LOPRESTI, Gannett News Service
The athlete lugging the biggest load across the main stage at the moment? Easy call. We can spot him from 4,000 miles away.
His name is Andy Murray, 22, and he woke up today with Great Britain on his shoulders. The whole bloody island, Big Ben and all.
It’s this Wimbledon business. As everyone from the Shetland Islands to the white cliffs of Dover knows, he’s the native son from Scotland playing in the semifinals. Win and he’s in the final, and while that would be a big deal for any corner of the globe, it’s heavy enough in the United Kingdom to sink the Queen Mary II.
Murray surely understands the history and the hunger. The British have been throwing this shindig at Wimbledon forever, with a bottomless supply of courtesy and strawberries. But it’s been like hosting a dinner party and being asked to leave when the main course comes out.
Every summer, the world of tennis comes to his shores, takes the best silver, waves thanks and leaves. The last time one of his countrymen played in a final, Neville Chamberlain was prime minister and Hitler was stacking up mortar shells. That was 1938.
In the 71 years since, 16 countries have put men into a Wimbledon final, Croatia, New Zealand, and Egypt included. There have been 23 different Americans, 18 Australians. But nobody from the neighborhood.
Now Murray has a decent chance to get there. According to reports in the British press, the fans have been lining up for 60 hours to grab tickets to his matches. The queen has sent best wishes. So has a fellow Scotsman, Sir Sean Connery. Miss Scotland has stopped by to cheer him on.
Tickets for Sunday’s final – when it could be Murray as the last obstacle to Roger Federer passing Pete Sampras in grand slam titles – have been offered on one Web site for 20,000 pounds. That’s more than $32,000 on this side of the pond.
And should he beat Andy Roddick, leaving a Scotsman to go eyeball to eyeball with Roger Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon? The ticket scalpers hit the jackpot.
So, too, does the game of tennis.
