London, Jul 7: British tennis fans were getting frustrated at not seeing a home player in Wimbledon final. But, on Friday, Jul 6, Andy Murray brought loads of joy to them when he became the first Brit in 74 years to reach the title round of Wimbledon.

Murry defeated Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to book a final meeting with Swiss great Roger Federer.

It was also a relief for Murray as he had lost three previous finals at the All England Club. It also ended British's jinx of their players exiting at the semi-final stage for 11 times.

Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and Mike Sangster all had failed to progress past the last-four phase.

Bunny Austin was the last British player to reach Wimbledon final in 1938. However, the last man from Britain to win the coveted trophy was Fred Perry in 1936. Perry had completed a hat-trick of titles, winning in 1934, 1935 and 36.

"What an opportunity. He's got one monkey off the nation's back with the first finalist in 74 years so it's a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Murray has to keep the ball out of that danger zone in the middle of the court and if he can keep the ball away from Federer's backhand then of course he has a chance. It's another big task for Murray," Henman told BBC Sport.

British Prime Minister David Cameron too joined to congratulate Murray and called it "great news".

"It is great news that we have our first home-grown men's finalist at Wimbledon for over 70 years, especially in this exciting Olympics year when the eyes of the world are on the UK. I'll be watching the final on Sunday and like the rest of the country, will be getting right behind Andy Murray - I wish him the best of luck," Cameron said.

On Sunday, expectations will rise higher for the home fans as they cheer for Murry to end the title drought.

Murray has already lost two big finals against Federer, in US Open 2008 and Australian Open 2010. But with huge support from the crowd, the Scotsman can set the record straight.

"It's a great challenge, one where I'm probably not expected to win the match, but one that, if I play well, I'm capable of winning," Murray said of his final clash against Federer, who holds a record 16 Grand Slam titles.

"If you look at his record here over the past 10 years or so, it's been incredible. So the pressure that I would be feeling if it was against somebody else I guess it would be different. But there will be less on me on Sunday, because of who he is," he added.

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