Why Wimbledon didn't take decades to realise Andy Murray deserved a statue

Andy Murray’s two Wimbledon victories were made all the more glorious by the 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion

When Fred Perry won his third men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1936, he received the usual accolades afforded to great champions. However, few at the time could have realised just how special he was. For it was to take 77 years before another British tennis player – Andy Murray – would emulate Perry’s achievement.

With every passing year, Perry’s ‘legend’ grew and, in 1984, a statue of him was unveiled at Wimbledon. Virginia Wade, the UK’s last women’s singles winner in 1977, was honoured with a bronze bust outside Centre Court in 2004.

READ MORE: Wimbledon reveal plans for Andy Murray statue and when it will be unveiled

Andy Murray's poses with his first Wimbledon singles trophy in front of the statue of Fred Perry (Picture: Julian Finney) | Getty Images

It has not taken quite so long to realise that Murray deserves a statue of his own with Wimbledon announcing that a monument to the Dunblane-born star should be revealed in 2027.

In 2013, Murray posed beside Perry’s statue with his first of two Wimbledon men’s singles trophies. Hopefully, we will not have to wait until the end of the century for the next men’s champion and the growing gap without a women’s champion – approaching half a century – must surely be ended before getting even close to the men’s 77-year drought.