Hard not feel emotional watching Andy Murray struggle to give his speech after his Wimbledon final defeat against Roger Federer today.
The nation saw a different side to him, which I think will help his overall image. He can appear quite dour in interviews, but today we saw just how much it all meant.
As for Roger Federer what can you say. 18 months ago you wondered if he'd ever win another major title, but he was back to his absolute best. There was nothing Murray could do, he was simply beaten by the better player.
So where does this leave Murray?
Those of us who really know and follow tennis appreciate just how good Murray is and how unfortunate he is to be playing in this golden age of men's tennis.
If Murray was playing ten years ago, he'd arguably have 2 or 3 Grand Slam wins by now.
I still think he can do it - he's got the talent and hopefully with the help of another tennis legend in Ivan Lendl he's got somebody who knows what it takes to win Grand Slams after suffering Grand Slam defeats early on in his career.
Murray's achievements shouldn't be underestimated, he's from a country that hasn't had a men's Wimbledon finalist since 1938! That tells me this country has no modern tradition or culture of producing top quality tennis players.
It wasn't that long ago that having a British man in the second week of Wimbledon was seen as a major achievement (Anyone remember Jeremy Bates?).
He's already defied the odds with his career to date and this should be remembered. Even though he's 25 there's still time for him to win a major.
Federer is over 30 now, Nadal's punishing physical game will eventually take its toll, and Djokovic is unlikely to enjoy the same dominance he showed last year.
At the moment it's difficult to see who the next up coming group of players are going to be to take over so there's still hope for Murray.
We will have a British Grand Slam winner very soon.
Related post
Despite Andy Murray, we’re still rubbish at tennis!
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