It was announced last year as one of the centrepieces of Wimbledon’s 150th anniversary celebrations, but plans for a statue of Sir Andy Murray at the All England Club have otherwise remained a closely guarded secret. Until now.
Telegraph Sport has been granted an exclusive audience with the mystery artist behind the first statue of a former champion at tennis’ spiritual home since that of Fred Perry.
That artist is David Williams-Ellis, once described as “the greatest living sculptor working in portraiture”.
The 67-year-old’s best-known work is the British Normandy Memorial sculpture, one of the centrepieces of the D-Day 75th-anniversary commemorations.
He also created the statue of Manchester City legends Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee outside the club’s Etihad Stadium. And he happens to be the stepfather of Princess Beatrice’s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Williams-Ellis created a bronze statue for the Princess’s 31st birthday and another to celebrate the couple’s marriage.
Telegraph Sport met Williams-Ellis after he was invited to this year’s Wimbledon before the unveiling of Murray’s statue next summer. And although careful not to disclose too much, he gave away enough to whet the appetite.
He confirmed that it was being modelled in clay – on a steel skeleton – before being cast in bronze, that it would be slightly larger than life at around a fifth bigger than the 6ft 3in Murray, and that it would weigh about half a tonne.
That would make it significantly bigger than the statue of three-time Wimbledon champion Perry, which is three-quarters life size.