Olympic Tennis 2012: Andy Murray Will Ride Olympic Gold to U.S. Open Title

For years and in four previous major finals, Andy Murray stood on the court trying to force a smile as he was handed his second-place trophy. He tried to make the best of the situation when the British media hounded him with questions, some of which he had no answers to. Worst of all, however, he was forced to bury his emotional heartbreak as he was dismissed as not being one of the top players in the world.

It was always seemed, at least in recent years, that tennis has had a dominant "Big Three," the likes of which the sport hadn't seen in quite some time. It began with Roger Federer, the best player of all time, who has almost as many major titles as Michael Phelps has Olympic gold medals. Then there is Rafael Nadal, no slouch in winning majors himself, and Novak Djokovic, who has come on as one of the best in the world.

With those three each having major titles and relative success against each other, Andy Murray, major-less, did not fit into the category. He is the little brother of the Big Three, or a junior member. To most people's standards, he had yet to prove he deserved to belong in that exclusive club.

Not anymore.

After walking off of the court Sunday morning to the cheers and delight of the hometown London crowd, Murray had one of the biggest smiles plastered on his face that he has ever had. There was no need to fake happiness as he was handed a second-place award because it was Federer who finally fell to the Scotsman in what can be called a rout: 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

There was a gold medal around his neck when he walked off of Centre Court and the tune of "God Save the Queen" fresh in his mind as it played for him with thousands of his loyal supporters watching on. Their star, their guy, had finally done it. Andy Murray had finally won at Wimbledon. It wasn't quite a major, but for him it was better.

It was a gold medal in front of his biggest fans, for his country, with the colors of Scotland and Great Britain adorned on his wristbands and his shirt.

And now, for Murray, the expectations are higher. Gold medal in hand, he is halfway to proving what he and most everyone else should know by now—and that is that he is capable of winning a major.

He will have his first chance to prove this at the U.S. Open, following the Olympic Games.

Murray will be on the highest of highs entering the U.S. Open, and it is safe to say he will be one of the favorites to win the title. No longer will Murray be considered an outside shot or a dark horse. He has now beaten Federer, for the first time in a best-of-five. Simply put, after years of failure, years of falling short of expectations, Murray has finally arrived on the scene of greatness, and there is no reason to expect he will be going anywhere anytime soon.

It could be thought that Murray is surpassing Djokovic, but I contend that it is entirely too soon to say that. What you can say, though, is that Murray is one of the best, and he has such potential for the rest of his career.

His career, in a way, mirrors that of Djokovic. After all, the Serb didn't win his first major until he was 21, but since then he has claimed five titles and an Olympic bronze from 2008.

Murray could win his first at 25. Although he would be four years older, like Djokovic, the biggest hurdle was getting that first major, that first big title. Since then, Djokovic has ridden it to innumerable success, and Murray could be on the path to do the exact same thing.

He is in a great position to propel and jump start his career with this gold medal. Coming into the U.S. Open with this new-found confidence, now having results to back up his belief he could beat the best in the world, Murray will be in a great place to win his first major. After that, there could be more in his future, perhaps even the most meaningful one for him—the Wimbledon Championships.