Former tennis star Sir Andy Murray will be honoured with a statue at Wimbledon, the All England Club announced on Tuesday.
Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion, ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion in the competition when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the final in 2013.
He clinched his second honours at Wimbledon in 2016 following a straight sets win over Canadian Milos Raonic.
The 38-year-old, who retired from professional tennis after the Paris Olympics last August, will play a huge part in designing the statue, with Wimbledon hoping for its readiness in 2027 during its 150th anniversary.
“We are looking to have a statue of Andy Murray here [at Wimbledon] and we’re working closely with him and his team,” All England club chair Debbie Jevans told the ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast.
“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.”
Jevans also highlighted the importance of immortalising Murray, who she said provided “special” moments in the competition’s history.
“We had a great celebration for Andy when he played his last (Wimbledon) match, which was on Centre Court,” she added. “All the old players came and they greeted him and Sue Barker interviewed him.
“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?”
Murray’s statue will join that of Fred Perry, the last British men’s champion before him, whose bronze statue was unveiled at Wimbledon in 1984 to mark the 50th anniversary of his first singles championship.
