Sir Andy Murray will help design statue of himself at Wimbledon

Sir Andy Murray will be involved in designing a statue of himself that will be revealed at Wimbledon in 2027, the tournament’s chief has said.

The idea of a Murray statue was floated after his first triumph at Wimbledon in 2013, when he became the first British man to win the title in 77 years. He won the tournament again three years later.

Wimbledon chairperson Debbie Jevans said a sculpture will be revealed in two years’ time at the All England Club during the championship’s 150th anniversary.

Speaking to the Performance People podcast, Mrs Jevans said: “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?’ We had a great celebration for Andy when he played his last match, which was on Centre Court.

“And then when he came, when all the old players came and they greeted him and Sue Barker interviewed him. So we did a similar thing for him here last year but we are looking to have a statue of Andy Murray here and we’re working closely with him and his team.

“And the ambition is that we would unveil that on the 150th anniversary of our first championships, which was 1877, so would be in 2027. It will be lovely and really special. So he’s got to rightly be very involved in that and he and his team will be.”

Wimbledon has honoured other British winners of the championship, with a full-length statue of Fred Perry on the grounds and a bust of Virginia Wade. Kitty Godfree, who won the first of her two Wimbledon titles in 1924, Dorothy Round, Angela Mortimer and Ann Jones have also been recognised.

The club indicated in 2019 that Murray may eventually be honoured with a full-length statue in the same way as three-time champion Perry. Richard Lewis, the then chief executive, said at the time: “I am sure something like [a statue] will be done.”

In 2024, John McEnroe was asked whether Murray should get such an honour. “If I was making that decision, I would say absolutely, yes,” he said.