Wimbledon: Andy Murray first British man in final for 74 years

Andy Murray, at 25 years of age, is the first British male tennis player to reach the Wimbledon Men’s Final in almost seven and a half decades.

The last time a British man won a Wimbledon Men’s Final was in 1936, when Fred Perry beat Germany’s Gottfried von Cramm 6–1, 6–1, 6–0. It was Perry’s third consecutive Wimbledon title, having also won in 1934 and 1935. The last time a British man took part in a Wimbledon Men’s Final was in 1938. On that occasion, Bunny Austin was defeated by America’s Don Budge 6–1 6–0 6–3. Today’s final will see Murray, a Scotsman, play against the six-time Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer of Switzerland. Federer first won the Wimbledon Men’s Final in 2003, then again in the consecutive years 2004 to 2007. He lost to Rafael Nadal in 2008, their third consecutive year facing each other in the final. This year, Nadal was knocked out of the tournament in the second round by the Czech Republic’s Lukáš Rosol. Yesterday, Englishman Jonathan Marray – with his Danish partner Frederik Nielsen – became the first British man to win the Wimbledon Men's Doubles Final since 1936. This afternoon will see whether or not Murray can follow suit.