Iconic Wimbledon presenter Sue Barker has revealed that Wimbledon officials were unimpressed after she decided to go a little off script following Andy Murray’s 2013 triumph at The Championships. In the 2013 Wimbledon final, Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win his first Wimbledon title.
Furthermore, Murray’s victory ended Great Britain’s 77-year drought of not having a Wimbledon men’s champion, as Murray became the first Briton to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry did so in 1936. The atmosphere was absolutely electrifying after Murray’s triumph and Barker wanted to get the crowd even more excited.
“I will never forget. I got into a hell of a mess with Wimbledon. Because Wimbledon had asked me, in the early 2000s, to do on-court interviews and read them out loud, you know? And I have a little script where I have to say that the winner of the men’s singles trophy, whatever year it is, is so-and-so.
And all of a sudden… I looked at Andy and he was crying, and I thought… and I could hear at Murray Mount, the crowd going crazy. There was a buzz around Center Court. I said, I can’t read this. So I said, ‘We’ve waited 77 years for this!’ I felt like I needed something, and the audience went crazy.
Andy was in tears again. No, that was the highlight for all of us. It was incredible. The pressure he was under, I don’t know how he did it,” Barker told Lorraine Kelly. After this year’s Wimbledon, Barker, 66, retired as presenter of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage.
Djokovic missed two Grand Slams in 2022
Speaking to Eurosport about Novak Djokovic’s up-and-down year, Mats Wilander said: “Novak has been so close to being allowed to go to the Australian Open and so close to being allowed to go to the US Open, that it would have never affected his training blocks or his practice sessions.
And I think because he wasn’t allowed to go, I think obviously physically it might be a tough thing for him to play five sets, seven matches, but he can deal with that. Am I surprised that the younger guys can’t hit through him? Sometimes I’m a little surprised, but it’s more Novak.
It’s insane what he can do in the tennis court with his movement and his defence and most of all, his will to win the ‘small matches’ to him who is maybe the greatest player of all time. He finds a way to just make it mean everything. I’m so impressed.”
