Monday 8 July 2013 09:05, UK
Andy Murray has been backed to win up to 10 grand slam titles following his victory at Wimbledon, which received the royal seal of approval from the Queen.
Although there will be pressure for Murray to repeat the feat, it will never again be quite like it has been for the past fortnight. Murray said: "It's really hard. For the last four or five years, it's been very, very tough, very stressful, a lot of pressure. The few days before the tournament are really difficult as well. "The last two days haven't been easy. It's so hard to avoid everything because of how big this event is, but also because of the history and no Brit having won. It's been very, very difficult. "I think I felt a little bit better this year than I did last year. I think now it will become easier. I hope it will." "I had a lot of tough losses but the one thing I would say is I think every year I always improved a little bit. "They weren't major improvements, massive changes, but every year my ranking was going in the right direction. I was always going a little bit further in the slams. "I kept learning and I just kept working as hard as I could." Murray could now become one of the top earning British sportsmen of all time following his historic victory. The Scot is likely to land a raft of new sponsorship deals after his win and stands to rake in up to £15million a year. The boost to his finances could put him just behind Lennox Lewis and David Beckham as one of the top earning British sports stars in history. The Scot, who won his first grand slam at the US Open last year, was ranked at number 32 in The Sunday Times Sports Rich List 2013 with an estimated fortune of £32million. Nigel Currie, director of the sports marketing agency brand Rapport, said the British number one will be likely to profit from a series of lucrative new contracts. He said a Wimbledon win proved Murray is not a one-hit wonder. He said: "It is as a global superstar where the major earnings potential exist. "Tennis is one of the few truly global sports. Along with golf it is played and followed in almost every country in the world. "Even sports such as football or Formula 1 have struggled to win over the vital American market. "Also being an individual sport rather than a team sport makes it much more lucrative."
