Game, set, match, gold medal. Andy Murray made it look terrifyingly easy to defeat Roger Federer on centre court

"This is number one for me, the biggest win of my life," said the scotsman.

Game. Set. Match. Gold medal. Three sets to love.

Andy Murray made it look terrifyingly easy on a centre court turned temporarily fuschia, but then he was only playing the greatest man to ever pick up a racquet.

6-2. 6-1. 6-4. It was barely a challenge. Roger Federer, who has won just the seven titles at the All England Club, was far from his best, but Murray was at the top of his game. It took him less than two hours.

He scrambled up the fittings, this time turned pink, to embrace the family, as so many do. Then a running jump across the back court and an exuberant punch of the air sent the centre court crowd probably as bananas as they have ever gone.

"This is number one for me, the biggest win of my life," said the scotsman. This week’s been incredible. The support’s been amazing.

"I've had a lot of tough losses in my career. This was the best way to come back from the Wimbledon final. I’ll never forget it."

Murray wasn’t tearful, as he has so often been on this court, when the medal was placed round his neck, and the national anthem played. The man has occasionally had a difficult relationship with the English, mainly because his words have been misrepresented. His lips at least moved in patterns with the words of God Save the Queen, even if the vocal was what Simon Cowell might call “a bit thin.”

Much is made of the now 77 year wait for a British Wimbledon champion, but Murray has ended an Olympic drought that stretches back even further, to 1908, when Josiah Ritchie won gold, also at Wimbledon.

While rain had forced the closure of the Centre Court roof for the women’s doubles match, it opened to reveal a bright blue sky above as Federer and Murray walked out for the final. It was a portentous start - the closed roof was a big advantage for the terrifyingly precise Federer during the Wimbledon final.

There were no speeches to the crowd, as at Wimbledon, not the Olympic way. But Mr Murray didn’t have long to get ready for the mixed doubles, which was scheduled on court directly after, in which he and young British talent Laura Robson were to take on the top seeds, Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.