To quote Andrew Castle and the last time we used the phrase “the waiting is over,” well, the waiting is over. Britain has a boys champion at Wimbledon.
Henry Searle is Wimbledon Champion
Brits watching that fateful day back in 2013 remember the phrase uttered by Castle, who was commentating on the match between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. When the Serb hit his shot into the net, making Murray the first British man to win a Wimbledon singles title since the late great Fred Perry, Castle issued the now famous line.
Well, today, we can use it again. 17-year-old Henry Searle has ended our 61-year wait for a boys winner. The young Brit went into the event unseeded and lifted the title without dropping a set. Searle has been impressive throughout, taking out the top seed Juan Carlos Prado Angelo in the first round. The first set of that match was tough, but the Brit broke serve right at the end to take the lead. It turned from there as the top seed couldn’t stop Searle from moving on.
Next couple of rounds were fairly easy for the Brit, and then another tough match followed in the quarterfinal against eighth seed Joao Fonseca. Searle needed a tiebreak in the first set and then eased through the second. The semifinal was a repeat of the previous round, but against the fourth seed, American Cooper Williams.
The Final
In the final Searle faced another seed, this time fifth seed Yaroslav Demin. The Brit had to work hard, but managed to secure the break and serve for the first set. The second started with Searle getting the break immediately and held on to serve out for the win.
Why is this impressive? Because the last time a British boy won the boys title was all the way back in 1962. The winner then was Stanley Matthews Jr.–that name is also well known in Britain, well his father moreso. Sir Stanley Matthews Sr. was a great footballer (soccer for American readers) and his son won the boys title at Wimbledon.
Since then we’ve not had much success, with five runner-up positions in the intervening period. Both Jack Draper and Liam Broady, now well established names on the main tour, are the last notable finalists–Broady in 2011 and Draper in 2018.
The last Brit to win a boys junior Grand Slam was of course, Andy Murray back in 2004 when he took the boys title at the US Open. It took him eight years to win his first senior Slam title. Fittingly that was at the US Open in 2012 where he won the junior Slam.
Hopefully Searle can follow suit. Maybe not waiting eight years for a Slam title of course, but it would be fitting if the young Brit could claim his first senior Grand Slam at Wimbledon. We Brits love a home champion, and we have so far had to wait seven years–which is much better than 77 years after all.
Henry Searle is a name to look out for in the future.
Main Photo: Credit: Peter van den Berg/USAToday Sports
