Wimbledon Murray Statue: Sculptor Cites Ronaldo Bust Caution
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- Wimbledon has commissioned British sculptor David Williams-Ellis to create a bronze statue of two-time champion Andy Murray, planned for unveiling at the All England Club next year.
- Williams-Ellis held a 90-minute session with Murray to work on poses, planning to depict him in the 23-to-25 age range with a racket in motion, scaled to "life-size and a fifth."
- Murray is wary of failed sports statues, referencing the infamous Cristiano Ronaldo bust and a Harry Kane bronze that an art critic compared to a comic strip character.
- Williams-Ellis has worked on the statue for nine months using "masses" of photos, video screenshots, and a 23-year-old model, and singled out modern tennis shoes as "incredibly difficult to sculpt."
- Wimbledon said there are "currently no plans" for statues of international champions such as Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams, or Roger Federer, though it would not rule anything out for the future.
- Existing Wimbledon tributes include a 1984 statue of three-time champion Fred Perry outside Centre Court and bronze busts of five women's champions unveiled in 2004.
Why it matters: The unveiling will expand Wimbledon's sparse collection of player monuments — currently just Fred Perry's 1984 statue — and becomes a public test of whether the All England Club can commission a sports statue that doesn't turn into a punchline like the Cristiano Ronaldo bust.
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