London, June 24 (IANS) The All England Club have confirmed that Sir Andy Murray is set to be honoured with a statue at Wimbledon during the 2027 edition of the tournament, which will mark 150 years since the tournament began.

Murray became the first British Grand Slam singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977 at the 2012 US Open, where he battled past Djokovic in a thrilling five-set final. The following year, he became the first British male Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry in 1936, ending the nation’s 77-year wait for a home winner at the grass-court major.

In 2016, he won his second Wimbledon title and became the first British player to reach World No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

“We are looking to have a statue of Andy Murray here [at Wimbledon] and we’re working closely with him and his team.

“The ambition is that we would unveil that at the 150th anniversary of our first championship, which was 1877. He’s got to rightly be very involved in that, and he and his team will be,” said Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, to the Ainslie + Ainslie Performance People podcast.

As per the BBC, in 2018, former Wimbledon chief executive Richard Lewis had confirmed the club’s intentions to honour Murray with a statue when he eventually retired.

A two-time Olympic men’s singles gold medallist, Murray called curtains on his illustrious playing career after the 2024 Paris Olympics.

A bronze statue of Fred Perry was erected at Wimbledon in 1984 to commemorate 50 years since his first singles championship.

“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. We looked at Rafa Nadal having that sort of plaque unveiled to him at Roland Garros, which was all very special. We thought, ‘What do we want for Andy? ‘,” Jevans added.

–IANS

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