July 7, 2013: The "Gentlemen's Singles" Final is held at Centre Court in Wimbledon, South-West London. Andy Murray wins it,
Born in Glasgow in 1987, Murray reached the Final of the Australian Open in 2010 and 2011, and was being called "the best player who hasn't won a major." In 2012, competing for Great Britain in the Olympics on home ground in London, he won the Gold Medal. He then went on to win his 1st major, the U.S. Open.
Still, the big ones were hard to come by. Whenever Murray won a tournament, usually not a major, the English media treated it as "Another triumph for Great Britain!" When he didn't, they said words to the effect of , "Useless Scot!"
But in 2013, at Wimbledon, he went all the way, beating Serbian star Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. With some irony, his coach was Czech legend Ivan Lendl, who, in his playing career, never won Wimbledon, but won the other 3 at least twice each.
It was the 1st time a British man had won Wimbledon since 1936: Edward VIII was in his brief time as King, Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister, none of the Beatles had yet been born, and a ticket was 8 shillings.
In the interim, Britain had changed monarchs twice, and Prime Ministers 16 times. Two of the Beatles are now dead, and the other two were 73 and 71 at the time. And a ticket to Wimbledon cost 12 pounds, and the shilling itself has long since been phased out. And 4 British women had won Wimbledon: Midlands natives Dorothy Round in 1937 and Ann Jones in 1969, West Country native Angela Mortimer in 1961, and Dorset native Virginia Wade in 1977.
Murray won Wimbledon again in 2016, defeating Milos Raonic -- coincidentally, another ethnic Serb, although one from Canada. Also that year, he lost the French Open Final, his only Final there; and the Australian Open, going 0-for-5 in their Finals.
He was knighted in 2017. As he is still an active player as of July 7, 2022, Sir Andy Murray will not be eligible for the International Tennis Hall of Fame for some time. (UPDATE: He retired after the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Therefore, he will be eligible in 2029.)
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July 7, 2013 was a Sunday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Hiroki Kuroda pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and the Yankees led, 1-0 going into the top of the 9th, with neither Derek Jeter nor Alex Rodriguez playing. But with 1 out in the top of the 9th, Mariano Rivera, in his final season, allowed a single to Nick Markakis and a home run to Adam Jones.
* The New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Domonic Brown hit a home run.
* The Washington Nationals beat the San Diego Padres, 11-7 at Nationals Park in Washington.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-5 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-6 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Dioner Navarro brought the winning run home with a sacrifice fly, scoring Anthony Rizzo, in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins, 3-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Jered Weaver pitched 6 2/3rds innings of 5-hit, 2-walk shutout ball, and the bullpen allowed no baserunners. Mike Trout and Hank Conger hit home runs.
* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 4-1 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.
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