First presented in 1887 by the all England club, the Wimbledon Trophy we know today has been held aloft by over one hundred gentleman’s singles champions. The most recent of which is Britain’s own Andy Murray who in July 2016 defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic in a straights set victory in front of the centre court crowd. His second Wimbledon triumph would act as the springboard for a year of further success in that saw him finish the year as the world number one for the first time, as well as winning the ATP tour finals and picking up the Sport’s Personality of the Year award for a record third time.
349 days after his success at SW19, on 24th of June 2017 Andy’s replica trophy would find itself at the Leamington Lawn Tennis and Squash Club on one of just nineteen stops it would make on its tour across the country. With Leamington being so fortunate as to be one of the few destinations on the Jaguar Andy Murray trophy tour, it was no surprise that many chose to come and get a picture with, or even just a glimpse of the trophy, thought of by many as the most prestigious award in Men’s tennis. In fact over 300 people visited the club on this Saturday afternoon for an extremely rare experience, The organiser’s were delighted with the turnout and the excitement, particularly from the kids at seeing the beautiful trophy.
Not only was it a big deal to have the trophy at the club, it was a big deal in getting it in to start with. The trailer in which the trophy was displayed had to be lifted into the Tennis club via a huge crane, not something seen on a regular basis here. Once the showpiece was in place, it was time for it to be unveiled and at 1 O’Clock the shutters were raised and the queue began to flow as people patiently waited to get their hands on the famous cup while they posed for once in a lifetime photos, or twice if your name is Andy Murray of course.
Overall, it was a majorly successful day for the Leamington Lawn Tennis Club who feel very privileged to have been part of the journey of one of sport’s most famous honours.