Andy Murray Finally Victorious

When Andy Murray beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in this years Wimbledon semi-finals, advancing to a final showdown with Roger Federer, only one thing caught my eye. It wasn’t the fact that he managed to beat Tsonga and become the first Briton to reach a Grand Slam final in 74 years, it was an article that I had read in the Metro newspaper on how he was in contact with NBA superstar LeBron James.

I was shocked. I was unaware that the Scot knew LeBron or even that he was such an avid basketball fan. It was reported that Andy Murray had named LeBron James as inspiration in his press to reach the next level. This made perfect sense to me though as they both had similar plights in their respective sports, failing to win major titles. Well in LeBron’s case it was failing to win an NBA championship.

When trying to find a sportsman to compare himself to, he gave King James as his closest comparison. A man who American media coined the term “Mr. Three Quarters” after, for his inability to fulfil in the latter stages of major basketball games. LeBron took to his Twitter to congratulate the Scot on the feat of reaching the finals and cheered him on tweeting “Will be rooting for U. C u in London!”

In the final, the Swiss overwhelmed Murray with sheer brilliance. After losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final in July, he has prevailed and kept battling on. Becoming the British media’s favourite, the doing them proud by winning a Gold medal for Team GB at the London Olympics in the same venue where he succumbed just 28 days prior. Possibly getting a boost after getting to link up with his ‘pal’ LeBron James in London.

Who would have predicted so much success for Andy Murray this year. Well it looks like BBC are due to show their appreciation by naming him among the 12 sportspersons shortlisted for this years Sports Personality Of The Year. A 12-strong list of the candidates of the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year has been released and as expected tennis star And Murray was there. The 25-year-old is in for a real shout this year after overcoming so much and finally triumphing.

Just like LeBron, Murray had flirted with winning big titles on previous occasions but never seemed to get it done. Similarly to how LBJ had to make his move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to seek success with the Miami Heat, Andy Murray’s bounce back may be down to him appointing Ivan Lendl as his new coach in December 2011. In a roller-coaster year which has gone from height to height, Andy Murray has finally provided his faithful British fans with what they have been praying for since 1937, a Grand Slam title.

There are some big names on this list down to this summer’s Olympic Games but this year he may genuinely be in with a shout. If being the first British male to win a grand slam title in 76 years, when he won the US Open in September in an epic match against world number one Novak Djokovic, isn’t enough to win him BBC Sports Personality Of The Year tonight… I’m afraid he may never win the award.

Lakeem Greaves (@iamLAKZ)