Andy Murray’s dreams of becoming the first British man to win a singles title at Wimbledon for 76 years were dashed by seven-time champion Roger Federer.
Federer won his first major title in two-and-a-half years in four sets 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 to join Pete Sampras and William Renshaw on seven Wimbledon titles and return to the top of the world rankings.
The weight of expectation didn’t seem to affect Murray as the match got underway as he raced into the lead, breaking Federer’s serve in the opening game to help him towards a first set win.
Federer responded, though, and deserved the win having been the better player for the majority of the match thereafter.
Serena Williams won a fifth singles title at Wimbledon, beating Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 5-7 6-2.
One Brit who tasted success during finals weekend was Jonathan Marray, who won the men’s doubles with partner Frederik Nielsen having entered the competition as a wildcard.
Marray and Nielsen overcame fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau in five sets on Saturday after conquering Bob and Mike Bryan in Thursday’s semi-final.
Mark Webber won yesterday’s British Grand Prix in exciting circumstances. Webber passed Fernando Alonso with just four laps remaining and held on to the lead, despite Alonso having led for much of the race.
Vettel finished behind Alonso in third, followed by Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton came a disappointing eighth with teammate Jenson Button finishing tenth.
Webber cut Alonso’s lead in the drivers’ championship to 13 points. Hamilton is 37 behind in fourth.
St Helens scraped past Widnes with a late Josh Jones try converted by Lee Gaskell to win 24-23 and move up to third in the Super League.
Saints remain behind Wigan, who trounced Wakefield 52-10 on Sunday, and Warrington, who play Catalan Dragons tonight.
Ian Poulter dropped two shots on the final two holes of the French Open to gift Marcel Siem the win. Poulter dropped down to joint-fourth behind Francesco Molinari and Raphael Jacquelin.
Bradley Wiggins retained the yellow jersey in the Tour de France as Thibaut Pinot won stage eight of the race. Wiggins held off last year’s winner Cadel Evans to maintain his lead by ten seconds.
