LONDON (AFP) – Andy Murray said Monday he is determined to push on from his stunning Wimbledon win and add further Grand Slam titles to his achievements.
Speaking after a near sleepless night, Murray returned early morning to his press duties hailed as a national hero, having become the first British player to lift the gold trophy in 77 years.
His emotion-charged 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over top seed Novak Djokovic on a baking-hot centre court on Sunday left the 26-year Scot drained but still lucid over what faces him next in his tennis career.
“I need to try and improve and use this hopefully as a springboard to try and get better,” he told BBC Five Live.
“I may never win another slam, I don’t know, but I’m going to try as hard as I can and keep working hard and not worry about all of the other stuff that comes along with winning Wimbledon, and after a few days I will enjoy this and get back to work.
“I’m going to try and take a bit of a holiday and go away after the next three or four days. I will see all my family and go out for dinner and see friends and then head off for a week or so.”
Murray said that the whirlwind of media interviews and official duties as a Wimbledon winner had left him in a kind of a daze and that getting to sleep at the end of it all late in the night had been all but impossible.
“No-one could really believe it and I was the same,” he said of his own feelings and that of his family and entourage.
“You don’t want to go to sleep in case you wake up and it didn’t actually happen. I was just messaging my friends and laying in bed. It was tough to get to sleep last night.
“I’m sure I will see some of the newspapers around. I’ve some of the back pages and front pages of the newspapers this morning.
“I know I won Wimbledon yesterday but what it actually means – I think that will take longer than 24 hours to sink in and understand it.”
Despite the win, his second Grand Slam triumph after the US Open of last year, where again Djokovic was his victim in the final, but that time in five sets, Murray will remain as world number two behind the Serb.
Replacing him one day as the top ranked player was something he aspired to, but Murray said he would not become obsessed by it.
“It’s tough,” Murray said when asked if becoming world number one was his ultimate aim. “You have to be so consistent throughout the whole year. Right now I hold two slams, the Olympic gold and the final of another slam and I’m still nowhere near number one in the world.The goal for me is to try and win the grand slams, win those tournaments and not worry too much about the ranking.”
Murray’s historic win sparked immediate speculation that he would be awarded a knighthood by the queen for his achievement.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who watched the final from the center court Royal Court, said that he could think of no one who was more deserving of such an honor.
He said Murray’s victory had “lifted the spirits of the whole country.”
Asked about the possibility, Murray remained coy saying that he was not sure he was worthy of it.
“It’s a nice thing to have or be offered. I think just because everyone’s waited for such a long time for this, that’s probably why it will be suggested but I don’t know if it merits that,” he said.
