With his maiden Grand Slam victory embedded firmly in his head and heart, Andy Murray made the post-U.S. Open media rounds in New York City, as every winner in Queens does. Unlike Serena Williams, who captured her 15th overall Slam singles title, this one feels fresh and tender. Because it is just that. Sweet relief. Not just for Murray himself, and his mother Judy and others in his entourage, but also for his many fans, British and other, and, honestly, probably also for tennis observers at large. It's a delight to be able to stop talking about the British drought at Slams, such a weary(ing) story, and to be able to focus on greater plot lines.
Here's Murray yukking it up with the cast of NBC's "Today" show at Rockefeller Center:
Muray made more visits to morning and late-night hosts, including consorting with Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan in the daylight and to Jimmy Fallon in the evening, all champions of tennis as a sport beloved by celebrities. Kudos, finally, to Murray for flipping this monster of a monkey off his back and claiming his first Slam title. Recall that Roger Federer, felled in New York this time by Tomas Berdych, said in a somewhat backhanded way after beating Murray in July's Wimbledon final, that he thought the Scot could win "one Slam." Of course Murray's focus now will be on taking as many as possible, and he was aided in ways here by Rafael Nadal's MIA status, Novak Djokovic's bipolar play in the final, and Federer's ouster. But Murray beat all seven men placed in front of him in the draw, and that's entirely to his credit. He earned this.
To Federer's credit now, he did say this also of Murray, in 2010: