A man in a time of legends, Andy Murray fought for his spot in the pantheon

My mother has a Union Jack flag that she keeps just inside the front door of her house. It’s old and faded, slightly tattered. My grandmother flew it outside her house on V-E Day in 1945. My mother also puts it out on special occasions – like when Andy Murray won Wimbledon in 2013.

Murray lost in the first round of the Australian Open Monday, in five sets to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, in what may have been his last match. He said last week he hopes to play at Wimbledon one last time.

I’ve never been a chest-thumping patriot, or a tennis fanatic. Wimbledon is special, though – and it had been 76 years. Not even the V-E Day flag had seen a British man win Wimbledon.

But that isn’t what makes Andy Murray perhaps the greatest British athlete of this century. It’s that even at his best, he often wasn’t good enough…

Click here to read the full article.

• ← Once a nation of joiners, Americans are now suspicious of those who do
• This Texas town breeds something students need: confidence →