It's taken a while, but Andy Murray, through tears and smiles, ups and downs, despite, rather than because of, the judgment of flinty critics dancing to an agenda driven by tired prejudices and misunderstandings, has just about clinched the love of the British public. The mutual affection has grown since he wept openly on Centre Court at Wimbledon after losing with grit and style to Roger Federer in the men's final. How typically British is that?
But he cried, not self-consciously but honestly — because he cared, not just for himself but for a nation waiting so long for some tennis glory – and the unvarnished integrity of his emotions shone through. If the aftermath of that memorable day is enough to lift him to Olympic gold in the rematch on the same courton Sunday afternoon, four weeks later to the day, a love affair that began in tears will be consummated, surely, in delirium.
We all know why this is so. Murray is Scottish; tennis is, in southern perceptions, English; there is no point pretending otherwise. Determination to ignore it has made him stronger. It is not his problem, yet it is Murray who unlocked the solution, and the flip-side of his despair in the championships was his elation in celebrating a victory over Novak Djokovic in the Olympic semi-finals here on Friday with a grin as wide as the net. Two hours later, he was still smiling. He'd never had "so much fun", he said.
Murray could finish Sunday with two golds, having reached the final of the mixed doubles with Laura Robson. A 6-1, 6-7, 10-7 victory overGermany's Christopher Kas and Sabine Lisicki earned a meeting with Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus which will take place before the Federer match.
Murray's new Wimbledon constituency – first-time visitors, many of them who felt no embarrassment chanting "GB, GB" — are with him 100%. Earlier hints of reserve here at the Tim Henman Memorial Museum are gone.
A month ago, Murray had a plan and it worked for a set-and-a-half, but he ran up against the genius of Federer when they went under the roof to escape the gathering rain.
"I didn't do much wrong in that final," Murray said. "Roger wins a lot of matches because he changes tactics mid-match and he might have done something that stopped me from playing the patterns that were working well at the beginning."
He took a week to think about it, spoke at length to his coach Ivan Lendl and "got over it quickly". That has not always been the case. However, after losing in five close sets to Djokovic in the Australian semi-finals this year, he was fine. Similarly, losing at Wimbledon, where he was competitive, gave him hope not grief. Murray would prefer very much to play "in fresh air" after going under the roof in the Wimbledon final, as well as the first two matches of this tournament, although his indoor form this time has been excellent.
"I've always preferred playing outdoors on grass. Playing indoors just feels a bit different.
"Today was a bit windy and the conditions were tough," he said of his straight-sets win over the Serb. "When the roof closes the conditions are perfect; it's such a different match. Things change tactically. Certain things work better under the roof that don't work so well when it's open. I just hope it's dry."
His preferred choice is adversity, which is interesting. It feeds his determined side. Perfection is Federer's territory. His serve cuts the still, indoor air more cleanly, with more zip and menace, and he does not have to cope with pesky gusts, something Murray does not mind. But this match will not just be played on the Centre Court oblong; a small part of it will be played in Murray's mind as his thoughts stray beyond Wimbledon and into the Olympic village (where he would rather be, were it practical), to the deeds of the GB team, the heroics not just of his fellow Scot Katherine Grainger, a gold medallist after waiting 12 years, but all the others, from England, even, and Wales and Northern Ireland.
Murray gets the Olympics and its embrace of a wider Britishness, but for a long time there were people who didn't get him. Maybe they do now. "Seeing stuff like [Grainger's win in the double sculls with Anna Watkins] is motivation," he said. "We watched it right before I went out to practice today. They did great, won by a pretty fair distance. We saw some of the stories and stuff on her beforehand. To keep coming back is something that not many …" His voice trailed away. "I think she will tell you she's a lot happier than someone who won their gold on the first attempt."
He might have been talking about himself.
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