Former world No. 1 Andy Murray says he is confident his statue at Wimbledon, set to be unveiled at the 150th edition of the championships in 2027, will be an improvement on the infamous terracotta warrior made for him at the 2011 Shanghai Masters.
“I thought I was better looking than that,” Murray quipped when unveiling the statue, which was built for his victory at the 2010 tournament.
It is just one of a number of less than flattering statues to be unveiled in honor of athletes over the years, withDwyane Wade’s bronze sculptureoutside the Miami Heat’s arena last year the latest to go viral for the wrong reasons.
Others includeCristiano Ronaldo’s infamous bustat Madeira Airport and Walter Johnson’s unique statue outside Nationals Park.
“When we played in Shanghai, they did these terracotta, warrior-type things, and they weren’t great,” Murraytold the Guardianrecently.
“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.”
Murray won two Wimbledon titles with his first coming in 2013 against Novak Djokovic – a year after losing to Roger Federer – a victory which ended a 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion in SW19.
The Scot also clinched a gold medal on Centre Court for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics.
A bronze statue of Fred Perry, the last British man to win Wimbledon before Murray, was unveiled in 1984 to honor the 50th anniversary of his first title at the All England Club.
“I’m very proud,” Murray told the BBC. “There’s not many statues around the grounds and I always remember seeing the Fred Perry statue when I’ve walked around the grounds and gone to practice there over the years.
“So it will be very special.”