(Corrects 21st paragraph to Bunny Austin from Fred Perry)
LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - British tennis was savouring its
first male grand slam champion for 76 years on Tuesday but Andy
Murray's extraordinary feat in New York was actually the
antithesis of decades of failure from the nation where the sport
was born.
The 25-year-old's refusal to accept second best in Monday's
U.S. Open final against Serbian ironman Novak Djokovic, to stare
defeat in the face and still find the will to outlast one of
sport's greatest warriors are not qualities to be found in any
of Britain's Lawn Tennis Association coaching manuals.
If they were, Scot Murray might not be ploughing a lone
furrow in the world's top 100 in which he is the only British
male.
Thanks to the hugely profitable Wimbledon championships,
British tennis enjoys a budget that is the envy of the rest of
the world, yet its failure to provide a crop of players capable
of competing at the highest echelons of men's tennis has long
been a cause for embarrassment and amusement.
Before a scrawny, teenage Murray announced himself as a
major talent by winning the U.S. Open juniors in 2004, Wimbledon
nearly-man Tim Henman had shouldered the nation's hopes year
after year along with Canadian-born Greg Rusedski.
Henman grew up with a tennis court in his back garden and
Rusedski on the other side of the Atlantic. Like Murray, they
were not products of a failing system.
When Henman and Rusedski, a former U.S. Open runner-up,
neared retirement, British tennis was staring at an alarming
black hole. However, Murray's mother and coach Judy had the
courage and foresight to pack her son off to Barcelona aged 15
to acquire a proper tennis education.
Already blessed with a razor sharp tennis mind and a natural
feel for ball on strings, it was at the Sanchez Vicario Academy
that Murray honed the metronomic groundstrokes that did for
Djokovic with thousands of hours of relentless hitting drills.
PERCEIVED UNDER-ACHIEVEMENT
The fruits of that labour soon became apparent as Murray
climbed 449 places in the world rankings after turning
professional in 2005, reaching the third round of Wimbledon
where he lost in five sets to Argentina's David Nalbandian.
Yet, those early steps into the seniors were difficult ones.
Still growing into his 18-year-old frame, Murray's physical
conditioning was clearly lacking, while his messy hair and
whiskers, dishevelled appearance and teenage scowl did not
endear him to a British public still yearning for that "nice
chap Tim" to come up trumps.
Not that Murray really cared.
Clearly prepared to go it alone, he focused all his energy
on getting fitter and stronger, rather than indulging in
popularity contests.
He hired, then fired, Andre Agassi's former coach Brad
Gilbert and surrounded himself with a team with whom he felt
comfortable, headed by coach Miles Maclagan who came on board in
2007.
Murray reached his first grand slam final in 2008, losing to
Roger Federer at Flushing Meadows.
He lost to Federer again in the 2010 Australian Open final
and 12 months later fell to Djokovic, meaning that in his first
three grand slam finals he had failed to win a single set -
prompting unfair suggestions that he was too passive and
"choked" when it came to the crunch.
When Djokovic, a few weeks younger than Murray, broke the
grand slam domination of Federer and Rafa Nadal, culminating in
the Serb's incredible 2011 when he was almost unbeatable, the
focus on Murray's perceived under-achievement grew more intense.
Murray, who had dispensed with Maclagan's services in 2010,
responded by hiring Ivan Lendl at the start of 2012, the
poker-faced Czech-born multiple grand slam champion who made a
career out of winning titles rather than friends.
It has proved to be a masterstroke with Murray proving
beyond doubt he is a bone-fide member of the "big four".
Few doubted that Murray had what it took to break his grand
slam duck but Lendl appears to have eradicated the demons that
often haunted the Scot on the biggest of stages.
Murray became the first British man since Bunny Austin in
1938 to reach the Wimbledon final this year and his performance
against Federer illustrated his new belief, even if it did end
in tearful failure as the Swiss maestro battled back to victory
after Murray had won the opening set.
The British public took Murray to their heart after that
emotional defeat and he rewarded them a month later when he
returned to the All England Club to beat Djokovic and then
Federer on his way to Olympic gold.
Failure to back that up and beat Djokovic in the
cauldron-like atmosphere on Arthur Ashe Stadium would have given
more ammunition to the doubters.
When he surrendered the third and fourth sets to the
rampaging Serb, it looked odds on that Murray would become the
first man to lose his first five grand slam finals.
Instead, like a true champion, he found another gear to
clinch a momentous five-hour triumph as the New York crowd
roared its approval.
With the monkey finally off his back, Federer in the
twilight of his career and Nadal's knees creaking, 2013 promises
even greater rewards for Murray whose rivalry with Djokovic is
already shaping up to become one of the sport's most
entertaining.
(Editing by Mark Meadows)