Andy Murray’s main memories of the biggest moment of his life are of tension and fatigue.
“I remember it being unbelievably stressful and then at the end of it huge relief,” he says of the victory over Novak Djokovic that ended Great Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon.
The year before had ended with Murray choked by tears on Centre Court following defeat by Roger Federer in his first final.
Twelve months later and with a long-awaited first slam title under his belt in New York, Murray faced another of his major foes with history at his fingertips.
Ten years on, the feelings remain seared in his mind.
“I was unbelievably nervous before the final and I also remember feeling like my team were really nervous,” he tells the PA news agency.
“They were struggling to hide it. My physical trainer, when we were doing the pre-match warm-up, he was fumbling all of the balls during the reaction drills.”
Even ‘Old Stone Face’ Ivan Lendl, the coach who had helped turn Murray into a slam champion, was not immune to the tension.
“Ivan doesn’t usually talk loads but before the final he was chatting a lot and I just felt my team were feeling it as well,” adds Murray.
“After the match I was exhausted. Twenty or 30 minutes after we got off the court, I was sitting with my wife and I was wanting to sleep. That is not usually how you feel after a match, normally the adrenaline makes it hard to sleep but I was completely spent after the match.”
The history books show Murray won in straight sets, 6-4 7-5 6-4, yet even when he served for the match in a tortuous game that somehow encapsulated all his struggles, it still felt on a knife edge.
Three match points came and went, then there were three break point chances for Djokovic as the tension around Centre Court ramped up and up. Murray stood firm, saving each one confidently, before a fourth chance came the Scot’s way, and this time his opponent netted.
The reaction from Murray was of sheer wide-eyed joy mixed with disbelief before the enormity of it all caught up with him.
For his opponent, the memories are of course very different, although Djokovic could find happiness amid his disappointment for the rival just a week older than him against whom he had been competing since childhood.
“It was not a great result for me obviously in the end, painful to lose a grand slam final, especially the Wimbledon final,” says Djokovic, who has lost only twice at SW19 in the decade since.
“But I was happy for Andy because he deserved it. He was working so hard to get his hands on the Wimbledon title.
“I had to congratulate him because he was a better player that day and it was kind of a perfect scenario for Great Britain and for him as a British player to win at Wimbledon on Centre Court.”
Among the crowd living every twist and turn was an 11-year-old Jack Draper, who eight years later made his own Centre Court debut.
“Watching Andy win Wimbledon on Centre Court in 2013 was an experience that I will never forget,” says the British number four.
“I was only 11 at the time but, looking back, it was definitely a moment that made me more motivated than ever to become a professional tennis player – and compete on the biggest stages against the world’s best players.
“I was very lucky to have Andy as a role model and hope that in the future I can do the same for young players.”
The experience was not at all the same for Murray’s brother Jamie, who was notably absent among the family and friends supporting the Scot courtside.
“I watched the final on a laptop in Stuttgart with my wife,” says the doubles specialist, who had already moved on to his next tournament.
“Of course it would have been great to be there to see him win but reality was it definitely wasn’t a sure thing. He was playing Novak, he’d lost a bunch of finals to that point.
“I was just glad that he won. I didn’t really care that I missed it. Obviously it was a weird situation to find yourself watching the match. The stream wasn’t even particularly great.
“I know what it meant to him to finally get his hands on the trophy. I don’t even remember what it was like when I saw him. Everything had kind of died down by then. It was a bit lame but that’s just the way it was.”
The Wimbledon victory cemented Murray’s place as one of Britain’s sporting greats, and he followed it up three years later with a second title.
Jamie does not believe achieving his biggest goal changed his brother, saying: “He was still incredibly motivated to do the best he could on the court and try to win more grand slams, that his talent probably deserved.
“That was an amazing moment in tennis where these four guys were playing in the semis and finals of every big tournament. They hoovered up everything for so long. I know Andy only won three but he played in 11 grand slam finals, which is a crazy career when you think about it.”
Sinner will only play Roland Garros if '100 per cent' fit
Jannik Sinner says that he is aiming to make a return for Roland-Garros if he is "100 per cent" fit following a hip issue.
The world number two withdrew from the Madrid Open last week ahead of his quarter-final tie with Felix Auger-Aliassime due to the injury.
Sinner confirmed on Saturday that he will not be playing in what would be a home tournament in Rome.
Providing an update on his progress on Sunday, Sinner said: "I went back to Monte-Carlo, we did some more tests, which made me take this hard decision because I have to skip the most special tournament of the year for me.
"I have to accept it even if it hurts me and many fans. We realised something is not totally good. If it is not 100 per cent healed, I'll stay out a little longer. Caring for the body is much more important than everything else.
"I’ll just try to get back to 100 per cent as soon as possible, hopefully trying to play in Paris and then Wimbledon and all the rest.
"We'll take our time, there's no rush and, hopefully, I can get back very, very soon."
Nadal and Djokovic on opposite sides of Italian Open draw
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic could meet in the Italian Open final after being positioned on opposite sides of the draw.
Nadal, a record 10-time champion at the tournament, could meet reigning champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals should they both get that far, while newly crowned Madrid Open winner, Andrey Rublev, would be a potential semi-final opponent.
In the top half of the draw, Djokovic will take on either Roman Safiullin or a qualifier in his first competitive appearance since Monte Carlo.
The Serbian, who is just two wins away from his 1100th tour-level career victory, is seeded to face Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov are also on their side of the draw.
Meanwhile, top seed Iga Swiatek has been drawn in the opposite half of the draw to Elena Rybakina, the reigning Italian Open champion.
Swiatek is projected to face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals for the second consecutive WTA 1000 event should they both progress.
Rybakina is due to meet second seed Aryna Sabalenka at the same stage, having lost to the Belarusian at last week’s Madrid Open semi-finals.
'It can only get better' - Sabalenka leaving Madrid Open 'with positive thoughts' despite Swiatek defeat
Aryna Sabalenka is encouraged by her run to the Madrid Open final and feels her performance levels "can only get better", despite defeat by Iga Swiatek.
In a repeat of last year's showpiece, the world number two went down 7-5 4-6 7-6 (9-7) in a thrilling encounter with the Pole, who avenged her loss from 12 months ago.
Sabalenka, who saw three championship points go begging, narrowly missed out on becoming only the second woman to win three titles in Madrid after Petra Kvitova.
Nevertheless, the reigning Australian Open champion reached her first final since triumphing in Melbourne, while extending her winning streak in the Spanish capital to 11 matches before defeat to the world number one.
"I really want to see many more finals against [Swiatek]. I want to see more wins than losses," she said. "But I really hope that we'll be able to keep the level or increase the level every year.
"I'm happy with the level I played, with the effort I put into this match and into this week. I'm leaving Madrid with positive thoughts.
"Probably when I broke [Swiatek] in the third set, I should have been more focused on my serve. But at the same time, it's not like I double-faulted; she played great tennis, and she broke me back.
"I think after the Australian Open, I struggled for a couple of months. It's been intense. I'm super happy that, here in Madrid, I was able to bring it all together and be able to get back to my level. It can only get better from now on."
Swiatek was not to be denied a third title of the season - a tally only matched by Elena Rybakina - and she has now won each of her last seven WTA Tour-level finals since losing out to Sabalenka in Madrid last year.
The three-time French Open champion has also now triumphed in every European clay court tournament at WTA 500 level or higher.
"When I look back in maybe a few years, it will mean a lot," the Pole said. "But for now, I'm just happy that I won this tournament anyway. It doesn't matter to me if I won it before or not. I try to win each tournament that I play.
"I think it was more about who was going to be less stressed and who was going to be able to play with more freedom.
"For most of the match, I felt like some decisions [from her] were pretty courageous. I was sometimes a little bit back. So, in the end, I just wanted not to do that and to also be courageous.
"I don't know what made a difference. I think we both deserved to win; I think it was only about those little points in the tiebreaker."
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