Wimbledon champ Andy Murray to help design statue of himself for tournament’s 150th birthday in 2027

LONDON (AP) — Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is to help design a statue of himself to mark the grass-court tournament’s 150th anniversary in 2027.

Wimbledon organizers said Tuesday they aim to unveil the statue of the British tennis great during the 2027 edition.

“He’s got to rightly be very involved in that and him and his team will be,” the All England Club chairwoman Debbie Jevans said.

Murray ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a home champion in men’s singles in 2013 when he beat Novak Djokovic in the final.

The Scotsman won a second title — and his third Grand Slam singles title overall — in the 2016 final against Milos Raonic.

An inspiration for the statue project is the way Rafael Nadal was honored, with Murray in attendance, this month at Roland-Garros where he won 14 French Open titles.

“We looked at Rafa Nadal having that sort of plaque unveiled to him at Roland-Garros which was all very special,” Jevans said. “But we thought, what do we want for Andy?”

A bronze statue of Fred Perry, the previous British men’s champion before Murray in 1936, was put up at Wimbledon in 1984 marking 50 years after his first singles title at the tournament.

The 2025 tournament at Wimbledon starts Monday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis