Andy Murray by Bam*
First appeared as cover art for Open Tennis Mag
Reprinted with permission from the artist
Pressure: “the exertion of a force on one body by another body, fluid, etc.” Item: Mouth ulcers every year when Wimbledon comes around. Cliché: Andy carries the weight of an entire nation, 76 years since the last male champion. Item: Murray got tight, choked for long stretches in his first grand slam final (2008 US Open) (2-6, 5-7, 2-6). Item: Murray got tight, choked for long stretches in his second grand slam final (2010 Australian Open) (3-6, 4-6, 6-7). Item: Murray got tight in his third grand slam final (2011 Australian Open), choked for long stretches (4-6, 2-6, 3-6). Each time a little better, but each time the pressure messed with his head/body/game. Up until this point, Murray has arguably choked in more grand slam finals than anyone. The commentator’s words as Murray serves for the 2013 Wimbledon championships: “I wonder how many times he’s thought about this.” Murray wins the first three points. 40-love. Cliché: Everyone’s on the edge of their seat. Djokovic, the best player in the world, wins the next three points to get back to deuce. Cliché: anything can happen. Item: Murray played well--did not choke--but lost his fourth grand slam final at Wimbledon in 2012. Cliché: He cried like a baby for days. Cliché: Before he serves, you can hear a pin drop. Cliché: Murray looks down, his left arm shaking. Cliché: Everyone waits to breathe a sigh of relief. Murray saves three break points, deuce a fourth time. Cliché: Ten minutes can seem a lifetime. A running forehand by Murray, championship point. Djokovic misses a backhand. It’s over. Headline, cliché: “Heaviest of burdens is finally lifted to an entire nation’s relief.”
* About the Artist (taken from Bam’s webpage on Behance)
Born and raised in Taichung, Bam is a Taipei based illustrator/designer. As a sports maniac and an enthusiast on street style fashion trends and lifestyle, the majority of his work includes athletes, sneakers, street style fashion trends, movies, and even political events, with a tendency to zombify some of the figures in his work. The name Bam originated from the Chinese character “竹”,(“bamboo” in English,) which is part of his Chinese name. The word BAM is also an exclamation used to express extreme excitement or happiness, resulting from some sort of accomplishments. Hopefully, each of his works can bring out a big BAM! You can follow Bam and his exciting work on Instagram.
If you wish to make any comments on “Andy Murray: The Pressure of Wimbledon,” feel free to leave them below or contact me. My other innovative short writings on tennis, along with free audio recordings to download, are available on my website. To see more of Tennis Players as Works of Art, you can also follow me on Instagram.