Andy Murray dissolved into tears of joy as he ended Britain’s 74-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles finalist.

Britons,to much waited for a British tennis player  in their own countries to play the world’s most prestigious Grand Slam tournament final . 74 years after a young man named Andy Murray of Scotland, it made ​​history by achieving. And it succeeded in defeating the British arch-rival, a French athlete.

Andy Murray again frayed the nerves of a nation before beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four pulsating sets on Centre Court. The Scot seems incapable of ordinariness. But, when he walks on to the sainted turf again on Sunday alongside Roger Federer, the tension will be ramped up to unprecedented levels for the first British men’s finalist at Wimbledon in 74 years.

Those are weird words to write. They will be heavy sentiments for the player himself to digest because, whatever he says about trying to be selfish, about staying calm but focused, he does care what it means to the country, the game and all those who wish him well. And he would be made of stone if Saturday night were not a tough one to grab some sleep.

It would be nice if he played better than did the last home representative to get this far, Henry “Bunny” Austin, who took only four games off the great Don Budge in 1938. It would be nicer still if the Scot played more like the elegant, determined Fred Perry who, as we all know, was the last British champion here, winning the third of his titles in 1936 with similarly embarrassing ease against Gottfried von Cramm.

That is all history. Murray wants to make his own and on Friday he worked tirelessly if sometimes inattentively to get there, winning 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

The match was packed with incident. Murray slammed a hard shot directly at Tsonga in the last game of the third set, sending him to the grass clutching his groin – evidence of Ivan Lendl’s hard-nosed input – and flirted more than once with disaster.

The match was a long way from fault-free but it was never dull. For that we have Tsonga to thank, too. He played in bursts of brilliance and distraction, the uncertainty adding to the entertainment.

Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray admits he must play ‘perfect match’ against Roger Federer in final

Murray is one of the few players on tour who boasts a winning head-to-head record against Federer, who secured a place in his record eighth final with a stylish victory over defending champion Novak Djokovic.The score currently stands at 8-7 in the fourth seed’s favour, although the Swiss master has won their only two previous meetings in Grand Slam finals.

Federer’s last major success came at the 2010 Australian Open Final when he comfortably despatched the Dunblane star to claim a record 16th elite title. And two years earlier he had thrashed Murray in the US Open Final at Flushing Meadows in under two hours for the loss of just nine games.But the British No.1 is hoping the lessons he learned in those crushing defeats will stand him in good stead against Federer tomorrow.
He said: “My coaches will watch Roger’s matches from this week and from the previous finals we played. “But if you go too much into detail of things that happened in the past it’s not always beneficial because in tennis every day is different. “So I just need to try and make sure I play a perfect match on Sunday.
“He is obviously one of the greatest players ever to have played and I don’t think anyone has a better record here.“It’s a great challenge and one where I’m probably not expected to win but it’s one that I’m capable of winning.”

Murray has already broken new ground by becoming the first player since Bunny Austin in 1938 to contest a Wimbledon final.

Federer admitted he is relishing the chance to take on Murray and the chance of spoiling a Centre Court party appeals to the Swiss.

The 30-year-old has been the darling of Wimbledon for the best part of a decade and the crowd were overwhelmingly in his favour during a stunning victory of Djokovic.

But while he will always remain hugely popular around these green and pleasant lands, the six-time champ knows his supporters will be in the minority tomorrow afternoon. He said: “I thought the crowd were very respectful towards both players in my semi-final but I did feel a big support towards the end.

“Now for the finals and Murray. I always say that whatever country I am in I like to play the local hero and Andy is exactly that here at Wimbledon.

“It will be very special playing against him. I hope I have some crowd support but it’s not the most important thing.”

Federer will start the match as favourite as he chases Pete Sampras’s record of seven All England Club crowns yet he is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “I know how good Andy is because I’ve had some tough losses with him.

“I remember the defeats I had against him, particularly in Shanghai where he crushed me and in Toronto. But we haven’t played much in the last couple of years because of us being ranked three or four for some time now.”

While Federer will be desperate to make sure Murray ends up with another loser’s medal, he has been impressed with the way his opponent has handled Murray Mania en route to the final.

He added: “It reminds me a little bit of Australia maybe because you don’t have the same amount of players you have, say, from France or from America so the focus is more on one guy.

“I think this is what makes it so different here in this country. It is that there’s so much attention on that one player, which is Andy.

“Let’s be happy that he’s such a great player and that he lets that sort of hype last because he always remains in the tournament for so long. He’s only going to get better as time goes by.

“I always said I’d love it if he made the final and so far he’s actually handled it all very well which is great.”

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