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Friday, July 06, 2012

British success at Wimbledon

Congratulations to Andy Murray on reaching the Wimbledon final. Much is being made of his success ending 74 years of British failure at the all-England Tennis club, but that is hardly fair to those home-grown players who have succeeded in this contest, especially in the current open era.

These are: 1969 Ann Haydon Jones won the women’s singles and mixed doubles
1977 Virginia Wade won the women’s singles
1984 John Lloyd won the mixed doubles with Wendy Turnbull
1987 Jo Durie and Jeremy Bates won the mixed doubles
2007 Jamie Murray won the mixed doubles with Jelena Jankovic from Serbia.

I really hope that Andy Murray can go on to win, so we can put this sense of inferiority behind us, but also because he deserves to do so. 

Comments:
"...ending 74 years of British failure at the all-England Tennis club.."

Another example of the conflation of Britain and the UK with England? It happens in cricket too.

I don't have any sense of inferiority at 'British failure' at Wimbledon, so don't include me in your 'we'.

May the best player win, whoever he is.

The term 'British' seems to be hurled at us from every direction in the media in recent months. Could it be the prospect of Scotland's referendum?
 
Will he be back to being Scottish if he loses?
 
maen, you sound British to me
 
Peter, the term 'British' has more than one meaning. Its association with the British state concerns me. This is not the time or place for me to outline my distaste for it.

Why should I be pleased if a Scot wins a title in an 'All-England' Club, rather than anyone else?

The implication is that it's because I'm a member of the British state, as is he - something I'm not at all proud of.

It's true that I live on the island of Britain, but so do a huge variety of people. Does an inhabitant of France celebrate Chinese success because he lives on the Eurasian continent?

As someone has commented above, often Murray is portrayed as a Scot when he loses, and British when he wins. Several comments on the story reflect that view on Newsnet Scotland too.
 
... and contrast 'if you will' the above with this 'Welsh attainment'...

"And while unions argue a “legacy of underfunding” has impacted on performance, Mr Davidson said evidence suggests the way money is spent is more significant than the amount delegated."

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/07/06/wales-school-pupils-lag-two-years-behind-world-s-best-91466-31334589/#ixzz202mo9B26
 
Murray gave it a great effort against an opponent who had not won a grand slam for two seasons and was massively motivated.
Murray's second serve suffered and he could not cope with Roger's variety of pace, drive backhand to slice backhand with side spin.
At hindsight Murray may think he should have come to net more buta great effort
 
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