MURRAY MANIA £32,000 to see Andy’s bid for glory
Coach believes the flair of the dog will rub off
MURRAY mania is gripping the nation today as tennis star Andy bids to beat Roger Federer and become the first British man to win Wimbledon for 76 years.
The Duchess of Cambridge will be at Centre Court, where tickets have sold for £32,000 a pair, and so will the Beckhams and the Prime Minister.
A record 20 million TV viewers are expected to tune in to watch Murray take on six-times champion Federer in the
final of the world’s greatest tennis tournament this afternoon. Nearly 31,000 fans at Wimbledon will fill every seat on Centre Court and pack Murray Mount, nervously hoping the Scot can secure a place in the history books as the first male British singles champion since Fred Perry in 1936.
The last 600 face-value Centre Court tickets went on sale yesterday via a ticket agency and were snapped up in 20 seconds. Meanwhile, websites priced pairs of seats at £16,000 per person.
The Duchess of Cambridge and David Cameron will be in the Royal Box for what looks set to be the tennis match of the century.
Superstar couple David and Victoria Beckham were due to arrive in Britain last night after flying in from Los Angeles to witness the British No1’s bid for glory and were expected to be in the Royal Box too. A source said the former England football captain has met Murray several times and has sent him good luck messages in the past.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen and Prince William, though both committed to attending private engagements, will be keeping one eye on the match.
“The Queen has met Murray and seen his Wimbledon progress. She keeps up to date with the news and she’ll be aware of what happens this afternoon,” the spokesman said.
Federer, 30, and Murray, 25, will each be allowed 19 guest seats close to the Royal Box. The predicted TV audience is set to comfortably beat the record 17.3 million who watched the 1980 final between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
Supermarkets were expecting rocketing sales of strawberries and cream, snacks and drinks for armchair fans’ parties. Many more will watch in pubs and bars which are hoping for a £60million sales boost.
Tens of thousands will see the match on 22 BBC big screens set up across the country in cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. In an unusual twist, however, 85,000 revellers at Scotland’s T In The Park music festival in BORDER terrier Maggie May is key to Andy Murray’s relaxed new approach to big matches, says his coach Ivan Lendl.
He has ordered his tennis protege, 25, to stay away from the “Wimbledon bubble” and go for calm walks with his pet.
Lendl, 52, who has had an illustrious playing career, also revealed another secret to the pair’s successful partnership. “We crack jokes at each other without smiling,” he said.
He told US television viewers: “I tell him just to keep the attention to a minimum, keep it quiet, keep everything the same, go back home, go for a walk.”
Murray also uses former boxing champ Mike Tyson as an inspiration, saying “he often walked to the ring petrified he might lose but as soon as he stepped in he felt invincible”. Kinross will miss out. Spoilsport organisers will not show the final and have even refused to give score updates.
A spokeswoman said: “There’s no facility for us to give updates, but we hope Murray wins.” Murray himself will be trying to behave as normally as possible today to keep calm ahead of the match.
After practising at Wimbledon yesterday morning with British player Oliver Golding he stayed away from the public spotlight, saying he would watch a comedy film on TV and have an early night.
Today, he said, he would have a lie-in until 9am, then have a bowl of porridge, a few yoghurts, some energy drink and relax with his PlayStation and by taking his dog Maggie May for a walk. He will stick to his routine, meaning his friend Rob Stewart will drive him to Wimbledon from his home in Oxshott, Surrey, for the biggest match of his life in a VW Polo.
In his last pre-match interview Murray said: “There’s obviously going to be nerves and pressure there for sure, but I need to try to stay focused.”
Ben Bullman, assistant manager of the Old Bear pub in Cobham, Surrey, served Andy’s mother Judy and a friend when they came in for lunch yesterday.
He said: “I asked how Andy was and she said, ‘He’s feeling good going into the match’. She looked happy and confident.”
Murray will scoop £1.15million in prize money if he wins and £575,000 if he loses. Bookmakers face a £5million-plus pay-out