Murray and Raonic on serve in 3rd set

“I obviously had the best years of my career with him”, Murray said. “The win feels extra special because of the tough losses”.

Murray has won all 12 of his matches since recently reuniting with coach Ivan Lendl, who was also in charge of the Scot’s backroom team when he last won Wimbledon. “There’s not one thing that I’m not going to try to improve”. “So I’ll make sure I enjoy this one tonight, for sure”.

World number one Novak Djokovic was eliminated earlier in the tournament. He sat out the French Open, ending a record streak of 65 consecutive appearances at major tournaments dating to the start of 2000.

Three years ago, Murray became the first British man since 1936 to win the singles title at the All England Club.

Victory preserved the iron-grip on the majors of the sport’s “Big Four” with Lleyton Hewitt the last man outside of Murray, Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal to win Wimbledon back in 2002.

Bradley was also seen exchanging a handshake and a few friendly words with fellow screen star Benedict Cumberbatch.

But Murray actually won more of the rallies of four shots or less than Raonic. It was also a big hint that Raonic might not experience much stage fright against Murray, whom he flirted with beating in the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open before a leg injury slowed him down.

Raonic, who beat Roger Federer for a place in the final, said facing Murray was a “difficult challenge”.

He had gone into the match having hit 137 aces in the previous six rounds.

And with good reason: effectively he had, with Murray never again looking in danger, and even when the set proceeded to a tie-break there was little drama.

Andy Murray broke down in tears after winning the title. But on a breezy afternoon, at a Centre Court filled with almost 15,000 partisan fans, Murray basically shut down that integral part of Raonic’s game. It was a hammer blow to Raonic and a second serve onto the line clinched the tie-break 7-3 for Murray.

Game 7: A crosscourt backhand pass and an error gives Murray two break points.

Murray had break points in the first, seventh and ninth games of the second set as he tightened his grip, but Raonic was cool under pressure and took it to a tiebreak.

Capitalising on his opponent’s opportunity lost, Murray again stepped up in the tiebreaker to storm to the title after two hours and 48 minutes.

“This one’s going to sting”, Raonic told the BBC on the court moments after the match.

And Raonic has already proved he can do it, taking out Federer in the semi-final.

Murray is looking for his second Wimbledon title, while Raonic is playing for his first.

Tweet: “Why is missile Raonic not bringing the gas on 1st serve makes zero sense”. – Brad Gilbert, former coach of Andre Agassi. He’s faced only 27 break points, saving 22.