SirAndy Murraywill enjoy a permanent legacy at Wimbledon after the All England Club announced they would be unveiling a statue in his honour at the 2027 championships.
Debbie Jevans, the chair of the AELTC, said that the club had been working closely with Murray and his team and would reveal the sculpture at the championship’s 150th anniversary in two years’ time.
Murray won the men’s singles twice,in 2013and 2016, becoming the first British man to win the title in 77 years. He retired last year having also won the 2012 US Open and gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Speaking to the Performance People podcast, Jevans said the tournament wanted to honour Murray in a similar way to how the French Open had recognised Rafael Nadal, whohad a plaque unveiled in Paristhis year to celebrate his 14 victories at Roland Garros.
“We looked at Rafa Nadal having that sort of plaque unveiled to him at Roland Garros which was all very special,” she said. “We thought, what do we want for Andy?
“We had a great celebration for Andy when he played his last match, which was on Centre Court. And then when all the old players came and they greeted him and Sue Barker interviewed him.
“So we did a similar thing for him here last year but we are looking to have a statue of Andy Murray here and we’re working closely with him and his team.”
Until now only Fred Perry, who won Wimbledon three times in the 1930s, has had a full-length statue in the grounds of the club. However there are also five busts of British female champions displayed outside Centre Court, including Kitty Godfree, who won the first of her two Wimbledon titles in 1924, Dorothy Round, Angela Mortimer, and Ann Jones and Virginia Wade.
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“The ambition is that we would unveil that on the 150th anniversary of our first championships, which was 1877, so would be in 2027,” added Jevans. “When he won it was just so special, so special for him, so special for us as a club. Now he’s retired, we’re very much looking at how we can embrace him, for him to be a part of the club in the long term.”