Yes, Andy won but it almost ended his career

Andy Murray, in case you missed it, created Wimbledon history last Sunday.

At the same time, he may well have prevented his whole career from crumbling.

Let’s set the scene.

Serving for the title, Murray reached 40-0, and had three chances to end a 77-year wait for a British Wimbledon champion.

It was only at that point that Novak Djokovic began to play like a World No. 1. For most of the match, the Serb had been unusually subdued.

But suddenly he began to hit the ball harder, and attack Andy’s second serve.

Imagine the shift in momentum if Djokovic had taken one of those break points. He’d have been mentally and physically revived and would have been on fire had the set gone to a tie-break.

I honestly think Murray might not have recovered, either in the match, or in his career.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gSng3z18GOk

If Andy had lost from that position, I think the psychological damage would have been immense. So much rested on those few points, and that last game was a career-defining moment.

Murray held his nerve, though. He fought off both Djokovic and the mental demons.

Now the Scot has the Wimbledon title and the knowledge that he has the inner strength to come through any crisis on court.

That’s priceless.

I think Andy can follow up his epic victory by winning at least another three or four Grand Slams in the next couple of years, earning the World No. 1 ranking in the process.

Although I forecast a narrow win for Novak, it was not a surprise to me that Andy took the title. The shock was that he won in straight sets. I thought the match could go either way, and did not believe a three-set whitewash was possible.

In the record books the 2013 Final will look like a comprehensive victory, but it is difficult to analyse. There’s no question that Djokovic was well short of his best.

But was that down to Murray’s inspired performance, or was it a reaction to his five-hour semi-final against Del Potro?

I feel it was a combination of the two. Murray was brilliant, but I believe Djokovic was slightly jaded.

For that reason, I don’t automatically make Andy favourite to retain his US Open title in September. I reckon there will be another Murray-Djokovic Final, and again it could go either way. But unless the Serb makes changes to his game, I would consider Andy favourite to retain his Wimbledon title. Right now, Andy holds the aces on grass. Djokovic just couldn’t hit through his defences in the Final.

The Scot reads the serve so well. Djokovic got so few ‘cheap’ points on his own delivery.

Andy can now look at annexing the World No. 1 spot, although I really don’t think that will be his priority.

He will target Grand Slam titles, and if he wins, the ranking will take care of itself.