The waiting is over and Britain has a male Grand Slam singles champion for the first time in 76-years following Andy Murray’s stunning US Open victory over Novak Djokovic.

Murray’s victory has provoked praise from celebrity fans to politicians.

Prime Minister David Cameron has had his say while proud Scots Sir Sean Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson have also been quick to chip in.

Here, BBC Sport looks at the reaction to 25-year-old Murray’s success, from his past and present coach to his home town of Dunblane.

THE COACH

Ivan Lendl: “Hopefully, we’re not anywhere near where Andy can get. I didn’t come here to have a good time – I came here to help Andy win. He did, so it’s job done.

“Andy has been maturing very nicely as a player, as a competitor, as a person. As you mature you become more comfortable in these situations.

“Of course, it’s very important to be in more of these situations and the more of them you are in the more comfortable you feel.”

THE FORMER COACH

Miles Maclagan, who worked with Murray between 2007-2010: ” [Murray is] in uncharted territory and he could go one of two ways. Either he’ll absolutely fly for a while and win everything in sight, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see a bit of a lull.

“You reach a lifetime goal, something you’ve strived for your whole life and you’ve now got it and you have to take a bit of time to think I’ve got to set some new goals, readjust myself and build up some determination for that.”

THE CELEBRITY FANS

Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery, who was at the Arthur Ashe Stadium tells BBC Sport: “I always felt he had everything and now it’s really come to fruition. I met him for the first time a couple of days ago, and it’s great for Scotland.

“We’ve had a really great landslide victory, and stop saying he’s British – he’s Scottish for Christ’s sake. I have to go now because the champion is waiting.”

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who was at the Arthur Ashe Stadium tells BBC Sport: “I’m really proud for the boy. When he really needed to he showed it. That was a real test of a champion for me.

“It was a privilege [to be at the match]. I love tennis, I love watching tennis and to be involved was a really special moment. It was more nerve racking than a Premier League match. I’m usually in control of my own situation, but I wasn’t in control tonight.”

American actor and director Kevin Spacey, who was at the Arthur Ashe Stradium tells BBC Sport: “I don’t think I have ever wanted something more for someone. For all of us who either live in Britain, like I do, or from Britain, the place must be going nuts.

“It is so well deserved. I met him for the first time last week and tonight is one of the matches I will never forget. There’s a time for sporting greats – and this is Andy’s time.”

THE FORMER PLAYERS

Former British number one Tim Henman: “Can he go on and be a legend like Fred Perry? Yes, I think so. I definitely see him going on to win more. How many he can win only time will tell. The confidence of the Olympics and this will give him so much confidence.

“I said the first one [Grand Slam] would be the hardest but I think it will be the first of many, I really do.”

Former British number one Andrew Castle: “What we are finally seeing is a man rather than a boy. So many have come and gone over the years, so many of us have had a crack at it and have done our best.

“But this scrawny boy who came along in 2004-05 was always talented. For me it was at Wimbledon when he grabbed the microphone off Sue Barker – I don’t think Sue liked that much – and said after a wonderful loss ‘This is going to be difficult, but I’m going to say a few words’.

“I thought that was to his credit. People have questioned him and to see him come through, it was exhilarating to watch.”

THE POLITICIANS

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Andy Murray “When I realised I had won I was obviously a bit shocked”

Prime Minister David Cameron on Twitter: “Delighted Andy Murray is continuing a golden summer of sport by winning the US Open. A truly great victory.” 

First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond: “Congratulations to Andy Murray on what was a fantastic performance. This is another brilliant win over Novak Djokovic and continues an amazing year for Andy.

“Now Olympic and US Open champion, Andy truly is a Scottish sporting legend and I’m certain that more Grand Slam titles will follow.” 

Dunblane Conservative councillor Callum Campbell: “The word proud just doesn’t do it any justice. The people of Dunblane have been supporting Andy and his brother Jamie since they were young boys and Andy has repaid their loyalty ten times over.

“A lot of young people who live in Dunblane look up to Andy. He’s a local hero.”

THE FORMER SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST

Roberto Forzoni, who has worked with Andy Murray: “Ivan [Lendl] has been terrific. That calming influence, and just his [Murray’s] work rate, determination, his grit to go again and again after each disappointment.

“If you look at his record over the last four or five years it has got better and better. Andy’s been in more finals and semi-finals, and it was only a matter of time.”

THE COMMENTATOR

BBC Sport’s Jonathan Overend on teetotal Murray: “He might even go out for a drink tonight, the night is still young. Murray was in a state of confusion [after winning].

“Obviously he was delighted but there were just so many things going round in his mind on how to react, how he is feeling, hopes for the future. We thought it would never happen, we feared it would never happen because of the quality of opposition he continues to face.”

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Jim’s Notebook: Matt Jones Now Settled In Central Arkansas, Talking Razorbacks

9/10/2012 at 3:00pm

Matt Jones may be the most enigmatic Arkansas Razorback football player of modern times and he made some of the biggest plays in Hog history. And he obviously still captures the fans’ imagination. The Embassy Suites ballroom wasn’t ready to handle all of the overflow crowd on hand to catch Jones’ visit with the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday.

No doubt, though, many of the club’s membership also wanted to hear what Jones and club president David Bazzel had to say about previously No. 8-ranked Arkansas’ stunning loss Saturday to Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana-Monroe 34-31 in overtime.

Jones told the crowd the closest he could relate to a heart-wrenching loss and having to immediately regroup was the 2002 six-overtime loss at Tennessee. That loss dropped Arkansas to 1-3 in the SEC, but the Razorbacks came back the very next week for a surprising upset at Auburn, finished the year on a roll and won their way into the SEC Championship Game with the “Miracle on Markham” 21-20 win over LSU.

Of course, this 1-1 Razorback team, now out of the national polls, must take on No. 1 Alabama in Fayetteville on Saturday.

“I know Louisiana-Monroe isn’t Tennessee, but what I would tell the players is, don’t give up, don’t lose hope. Put up a fight. Don’t forget the off-season and all you put into it, the blood, sweat and tears. Keep giving it all you’ve got,” Jones said.

MADE FOR QUARTERBACK: Jones said the transition from college quarterback to NFL receiver was his most difficult task as an athlete, but he finished on a good note at Jacksonville with the Jaguars, catching 67 passes in 2009 before being released the next year.

He said he had hoped to catch on with another NFL team and, at the end, had to choose between tryouts with Cincinnati and Tennessee. “Did I want to catch passes from Carson Palmer in Cincinnati or Vince Young in Tennessee,” he said. The choice was the Titans, but Jones did not catch on there. “I guess I made the wrong decision.”

But who knows what Jones could have done as a professional quarterback, if given the chance, had he not suffered a torn labrum in college that cut his passing distance, he said, from 75 yards as a freshman to 55 yards by the time he finished. He recorded an electronically timed 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Everyone can still recall how, as a freshman, he outdueled Ole Miss’ Eli Manning in 2001 in what was then the longest overtime game in NCAA history.

“I’m a quarterback at heart,” he said.

Jones, surely one of the best athletes this state has produced in the past century, also imagined at one time playing basketball professionally. “I think I could have had a pretty good career playing in Europe. In the NBA, I don’t know. I’m 6-6 and I played a “four” [power forward position] in college. But had I played a full season after I had finished playing college football, who knows?”

Now, Jones said, he’s working on his golf game and has gotten his handicap down to about a 6.

TV AND RADIO: Jones and his wife, Carolyn, have settled in Central Arkansas, where Jones has landed a couple of gigs talking football.

He’s on every Tuesday night with former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoener and Bazzel, who was a Razorback linebacker in the 1980s, on the Arkansas Sports Nation (KARZ, Channel 42, carried on Channels 9 and 436 via Comcast) at 10:30.

On Wednesdays, he rejoins Bazzel with Tommy Smith and Roger Scott on KABZ-FM 103.7 The Buzz’s “The Show With No Name,” which runs 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

No doubt both shows should be animated with insider talk about the Hogs’ upset loss and their chances for their own upset of ‘Bama this week.

DOWN MEMORY LANE: Bazzel arranged for several clips to be aired Monday featuring late Voice of the Razorbacks Paul Eells calling plays that highlighted Jones, including the “Miracle on Markham” pass to Decori Birmingham on 2002.

“That day, I was playing one of my worst games,” Jones said. “I had only completed one or two passes and two times the ball had slipped out of my hands. It was my worst game with the best ending.”

Jones completed 2 of 3 passes on an 80-yard drive in the final 40 seconds to win the game. LSU had kicked a field goal moments earlier to take a 20-14 lead. The Hogs had trailed 17-7 halfway through the fourth quarter.

“Two plays nobody ever talks about,” Jones said about that game, “On one, Fred Talley’s touchdown run of about 60 yards. He broke about 13 tackles on that play, and I didn’t think you could play with more than 11 on defense. It’s one of my favorite runs of all time. The other, LSU had a third-and-3 and Tony Bua blltzed. He wasn’t supposed to blitz but he did and he stopped them for no gain and they had to kick a field goal, and that gave us a chance to get the ball back and win.”

Of course, Jones was incredible in a 2003 upset at Texas, a 38-28 Hog win, as well as a big comeback that same season at Alabama that resulted in a 34-31 double overtime win.

“That was a great team,” he said of the 2003 Razorbacks. “We just had a couple of untimely deals that cost us two games,” referring to a helmet-to-helmet penalty call on Tony Bua in the waning minutes when Arkansas was in a furious rally to overtake Florida, as well as what Jones called a “phantom” holding call a week earlier against Auburn that wiped out his 80-yard touchdown that would have tied that game in the fourth quarter.

Those 2003 Hogs finished 9-4 with an Independence Bowl win over Missouri, 27-13.

Jones wrapped up his career with a Senior Day spectacular, a 70-yard run around end against Ole Miss that he capped by dunking the football over the crossbar.

Email: jharris@abpg.com. Also follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris360

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