Reporting On A British Wimbledon Winner

Press Association reporter, Ellen Branagh, reveals the inside story of covering a historic Wimbledon 2013.

At the Press Association – the UK’s national news agency – I’ve been fortunate enough to cover some pretty historical moments, from the Royal Wedding in 2011, to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and last year’s momentous Olympic Games. But possibly the most memorable is Andy Murray’s rollercoaster year, from last year’s tears as he lost the Wimbledon final to last week’s breath-taking moment where he finally made history.

I was lucky enough to cover Wimbledon last year, followed just weeks later by Murray’s Olympic victory over Federer on Centre Court, topped off with being at the All England Club for his victory this year.

Contrary to popular belief, covering Wimbledon as a news reporter is far from sitting in the sun quaffing Pimms and eating strawberries and cream. A lot of time is spent hunkered down at your desk in the press centre, trawling the web for stories, in between searching the All England Club for possible tales, dashing into press conferences with some of the world’s top players, or running up to Murray Mount in the search of reaction from fans.

Work for the final started way before Murray stepped onto Centre Court. With history about to be made, the second Saturday was spent crafting a long list of stories to cover every angle – the weather, the crowd, Murray’s hopes, his rival’s hopes, timelines, factfiles – as many as we could think of.

And then there was getting ready for that final moment – win or loss. PA is famed for its speed and accuracy, and a lot of that is due to preparation.

But there’s only so much you can write in advance, especially when you just don’t know how people will react – Murray sank to the floor, his girlfriend looked shocked, his mum wept, but it could have been completely different. So it was a case of watching, scribbling and getting the story out as quickly as possible to the world.

With my colleague, Katie, courtside and me swapping from the press centre to Murray Mount, we covered each moment that followed Murray’s win – from his climb up to the players’ box, the moment he forgot his mum, Scotland’s Alex Salmond “photo-bombing” David Cameron by unfurling a Saltire, and the post-match interviews both he and Novak Djokovic gave on court.

Katie grabbed Judy Murray as she left the court for her own reaction, while I accosted fans who had taken in the moment elsewhere at SW19.

Within a short period of time, we had a story running that took in the action, reaction, and atmosphere of an event that the nation had waited for 77 years.

While PA’s sports reporters produced coverage to fill the newspaper back pages, we were working on as much as we could get for the front. With a story as big as this, it’s all hands on deck across PA, from reporters in Dunblane, to scenes across the country, reaction on Twitter and comments from high-profile figures.

Andy Murray’s post-match press conference was the most packed I have ever seen the main interview room at the All England Club – even there he still seemed to be in shock! I even managed to get a question in, albeit known only as “the lady in the stripes”. 

Unfortunately Murray’s answer to the question of how he would celebrate wasn’t quite the scoop we all hoped for  – he seemed exhausted at the thought, although we all know he went on to party the night away, completely deservedly.

While the cameras might cut away after the match, the work of a PA reporter continues long after something like Murray’s Wimbledon win. It wasn’t until several hours later that it was time to put down the pen, and to stop typing.

Having witnessed Andy Murray’s tears and the aftermath of him coming so close to the title in 2012, then his joy as he beat Federer to take Olympic gold, it was the third and final element of a fabulous 12 months for the Scot.

It was a challenge, but a privilege, to be reporting at such a momentous occasion. And yes, it finished with a Pimms!