WIMBLEDON – It was a day of surprises at Wimbledon, particularly on the No. 1 Court, which is number one in name only at the All England Club.
Centre Court, with all its history and ivy, generates the pilgrimages and the misty eyes. But it was not at the heart of the news on Saturday, and when the rain and packed schedule were finally finished, neither Iga Swiatek nor Andy Murray was in the tournament.
Swiatek, still ironing out how to translate her steamroller ways to grass, will surely be back. Murray will not, at least not to do battle.
He and his wife Kim can select their seats in the Royal Box for decades to come. He earned that privilege on this island that likes its privileges by ending Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion in 2013 and proving that was anything but a fluke by winning again in 2016.
What the driven, prickly, ultimately endearing Murray could not do was go out on his own terms at the tournament which will define his legacy.