Andy Murray said he is proud that Wimbledon would unveil a statue in his honor at the 2027 Wimbledon Championships — and has faith that the All England Club would come up with a likeness of him that would not leave fans laughing or scratching their heads.
The last time a statue was made in Murray’s honor, at the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters, the former British No 1 was photographed next to a terracotta warrior that looked more like one of the US’ founding fathers or former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
Meanwhile a bust of Cristiano Ronaldo’s head at Madeira airport prompted widespread criticism — and amusement — when it was unveiled in 2018.
Photo: AFP
However, Murray said that he had no doubts that Wimbledon would get it right.
“When we played in Shanghai, they did these terracotta, warrior-type things, and they weren’t great,” he said. “But based on how Wimbledon goes about things, and their attention to detail, I would expect that it would be very good. So I trust that they’ll do a good job.”
Until now only Fred Perry, who won Wimbledon three times in a row in the 1930s, has a full-length statue on the grounds of the club. There are also five busts of British female champions displayed outside Centre Court, featuring Kitty Godfree, Dorothy Round, Angela Mortimer, Ann Jones and Virginia Wade.
Murray said he was delighted to be following in their footsteps.
“It’ll be nice to take the kids there and show them,” he said. “I obviously spend a decent amount of time there during the year, and always see the Fred Perry statue. So it will be strange to see one of me there, too, but I’m sure with time I’ll be really proud.”
Murray is to help design the statue to mark the grass-court tournament’s 150th anniversary.
“He’s got to rightly be very involved in that, and him and his team will be,” All England Club chairwoman Debbie Jevans said on Tuesday.
Murray ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a home champion in men’s singles in 2013 when he beat Novak Djokovic in the final. The Scotsman won the second title — and his third Grand Slam singles title overall — in a 2016 final against Milos Raonic.
An inspiration for the statue project is the way Rafael Nadal was honored, with Murray in attendance, this month at Roland Garros, where he won 14 French Open titles.
“We looked at Rafa Nadal having that sort of plaque unveiled to him at Roland Garros which was all very special,” Jevans said. “But we thought, what do we want for Andy?”
Additional reporting by AP
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