trophy and my name wasn't on it,
there was a moment when I thought
'What's going on?'
To hold that unique, historic trophy on
Centre Court was an incredible feeling,
but when I was looking down the names
of the past winners, I couldn't find my
own.
It turns out they've run out of space
over the years and my name is on the
base, so I didn't actually get to see my
name when I was handed the trophy,
but I can confirm it's on the one I have
at home!
I only got an hour and a half's sleep after
going to the Champions' Dinner, but to
come downstairs the morning after and
have breakfast alongside the replica
trophy was pretty surreal.
There's so much history behind the
whole tournament and I didn't
understand all that when I was young
and growing up. I wanted to win
Wimbledon but I didn't realise
everything that has gone on here over
the years.
When you walk down to Centre Court
you see pictures of all the winners back
to something like 1920, and to be
reminded of that every single match has
been quite a pressure. To think I've
joined them now is pretty amazing.
Literally the week before the
tournament, I was talking to my team
about the Wimbledon museum and they
said they were going to take me. I'll try
to pay a visit because I've heard it's
really good.
I did pose with the trophy alongside the
statue of Fred Perry, which was another
special moment as he's such an
important historical figure in tennis, and
someone people have been telling me
about throughout my career.
He was obviously a great player but the
talk almost became too much, and I just
hope we don't have to wait that long for
a champion again.
The final was probably the toughest
match mentally that I will ever play,
certainly that last game.
I was OK at the change of ends before
coming out to serve for the title, and I
was just thinking: 'This is where I'm
going to hit my first serve on the first
point.' I know how important stats are
when you win the first point on serve, so
I was just concentrating on that.
It wasn't until 40-30 that I started to get
nervous, and by the time Novak had
break points it was panic time. I must
admit that if I'd lost that game, I don't
know if I'd have recovered.
To come through was such a relief, and I
can't imagine I'll ever feel pressure like
that again.
I really felt it start to lift from my
shoulders after the US Open win last
year. I felt so much more relaxed in the
next few tournaments and when I was
on the practice court, I wasn't getting
agitated. I could miss a couple of balls
and that was fine.
I'm sure that will be the same this time
and hopefully I can enjoy it even more.
A lot has changed for me in the time
I've been coming to Wimbledon and
obviously the expectation and interest
has got bigger and bigger.
That can be difficult to handle and when
I was younger it might have made me
angry sometimes. I was still a kid in
those early days and maybe not mature
enough to deal with those things.
It does upset you when people you don't
know are criticising you, and things are
getting said about your family and the
people around you. It can challenge you
mentally as well.
You start doubting yourself - am I
working with the right people? Am I
doing the right thing by training here?
Have I picked the right coach? It's not
easy. The nice thing now is that hopefully
I'll be able to stick with my team until
the end of my career.
One thing I realised from quite a young
age is how important family is. When
you're working with people who are 35,
40 years old, they don't want to spend
40 weeks away from their family.
When I worked with Mark Petchey as my
coach, I got on great with him; he's a
great guy and I have a really good
relationship with him now. I used to stay
with his family when I was in London and
we travelled all the time together, but
after nine months we'd spent so much
time together and he wanted to be with
his family.
I realised then that when the guys I work
with start to have kids, they don't want
to travel for 40 weeks. At first people
wondered why I had a team of people
around me, but it made sense for me
and now a lot of the other players are
doing the same thing.
Hopefully together we can win a few
more Grand Slam titles, although I'm not
going to put a number on it.
If the number one ranking comes that
would be great, but I now hold two of
the Slams, have reached the final of
another and won Olympic gold, and I'm
nowhere near being number one. I'll
concentrate on trying to win the big titles
and the ranking will look after itself.
One thing I can already look forward to
is walking out on Centre Court on the
first Monday next year as the Wimbledon
champion. I just cannot imagine what
that experience will be like.
There will be a lot of pressure and
nerves but I don't think it can be as bad
as it has the last few years.
The spectators will certainly do well to
match the atmosphere on Sunday, which
was the best I've ever experienced at
Wimbledon. I've said all tournament that
it helps so much, and I must give one
final thanks to everyone for your
incredible support.
Hopefully we can do it all again next year
- but I'm sure we could all do with some
rest first!
Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport's
Piers Newbery.
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