Top 5 amazing Andy Murray stats, No. 5: First British man to win a Grand Slam title since 1936

Earlier today, Andy Murray announced that the Paris Olympics would be the final tennis tournament of his career. With the event set to begin in five days, we'll be counting down five of his most amazing career stats, one a day, until play kicks off on Saturday.

Starting with…

Becoming the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since 1936

Early in his career, Murray was one of the many players shut out of major titles by the Big 3—he finished runner-up in his first four major finals, three times to Roger Federer and once to Novak Djokovic.

But the dynamic began to shift in the summer of 2012, and things were about to change—not only did he defeat Djokovic and Federer back-to-back—both in straight sets, no less—in the last two rounds of the London Olympics to capture his first gold medal, but he continued that big stage domination in New York, going all the way to his first Grand Slam title at the 2012 US Open, defeating Djokovic in an electric five-setter in the final, 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.

The victory not only allowed him to take his own career to the next level—shaking the tag of best player yet to win a major, a label he’d been carrying for years—but it also ended a 76-year wait for a British men’s Grand Slam champion, as he was the first to win one since Fred Perry won his eighth and final major at the 1936 US Open.

“When you’re on the court, you don’t necessarily feel it, but I know when I was serving for the match, there’s a sense of how big a moment that is in British tennis history, really, so that obviously adds to it,” Murray said in his post-match press conference that night.

“More than most British players, I have been asked about it many times when I got close to winning Grand Slams before. I get asked about it more and more even after I won the Olympics. I still got asked, ‘When are you going to win a Grand Slam?’ So it’s great to have finally done it, and I said in one of the interviews after the match, I hope now it inspires some kids to play tennis and also takes away the notion that British tennis players choke or don’t win.”

As if that weren’t enough, less than a year later, Murray went on to end a 77-year drought when he won Wimbledon in 2013, becoming the first British man to win his home major since Perry in 1936. He defeated Djokovic in that final too, and in straight sets.

And as if that weren’t enough, he won Wimbledon again in 2016 to become a three-time major champion, beating Raonic for the title.

To this day he’s still the only British man to win a major since Perry.

The Andy Murray stats countdown continues tomorrow with No. 4…