After becoming the first British man to win a Grand Slam breakfast title in 76 years, Andy Murray is just about the hottest name in all of sports right now. In fact, after he defeated Novak Djokovic to win the 2012 U.S. Open, Murray should be neck deep in British WAG cleavage for his incredible feat, but it turns out that he’s had a girlfriend for a pretty long time, and he’s doing pretty well for himself.

But now comes the fun part for Murray, as he gets to do the whole media tour and be adored by everyone across Europe, and especially his home country of Scotland. Hell, Murray could probably demand that Sean Connery un-retire from acting to finally make us that League of Extraordinary Gentlemen sequel that we’ve all been begging for, and he’d have to because Murray is the most powerful man in the United Kingdom right now.

He’s also pretty popular in the U.S. because our men’s tennis players suck and we steal everything great from the U.K. so I’m going to go ahead and say that Murray is American. With that, American tennis champion Andy Murray stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other night, and he was serenaded with his own awesome victory song by The Roots.

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Imagine yourself winning your first grand slam victory. Imagine that it comes after you’ve lost four times in the final of a major and six times in the semis. Now imagine yourself spinning around and catching a glimpse of the crowd. What’s the best thing that could happen here? The best thing in the entire world. What would it be?

If you answered, “Sean Connery pumping his fist”, you are correct.

In addition to his relentless defence, his unyielding will to win and the support of a sympathetic crowd, Andy Murray had one other slight advantage over Novak Djokovic in Monday’s US Open final.

Only Murray had the original James Bond on his side.

Actor Sean Connery watched from courtside, clapping, yelling and even fist-pumping each time his fellow Scotsman won a crucial point. Murray rewarded Connery by eking out a five-set win in nearly five hours, his long-awaited first Grand Slam victory after four previous losses in the final of a Major and six in the semi-finals. (via Tramlines)

The only way it could’ve been better is if the Earth had suddenly split open, and Murray had to choose between saving his U.S. Open trophy or getting out of the stadium alive. Or if cops had rushed in to find Connery, only to have Murray tell them he “vaporized” and been blown out to sea.

Anyway, if that wasn’t the most delightfully Scottish thing you’ve ever heard, check out this conversation between Murray, Murray’s mom and Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson. It is so European, Keira Knightley may drift into the middle of it in a bonnet.

Murray [to his mom]: “You smell of wine”

Judy [nodding at Ferguson]: “He made me have wine. He’s just been telling me that Scotland invented the world.”

Sir Alex replied: “Hands up, I did.”

While you recover from that, here is the legendary fist pump, in both GIF and “recorded with a calculator” forms.

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Say what you will about Jimmy Fallon’s inability to keep a straight face during … well, anything, really, but he morphs into the funniest person in the world when he’s called upon to do an impression of someone who never has an impression of them done. See: Neil Young, Eddie Vedder or that amazing (and seemingly totally lost) SNL sketch where he played Punky Brewster’s Dad.

One of the best of his unnecessary, spot-on impressions is top ranked tennis robot Roger Federer. In the latest installment of ‘At The Bar With Roger Federer’, faux FedEx eats tennis balls, reads Fifty Shades Of Grey and — you guessed it — fails to keep a straight face while talking about Santa Claus. It’s so parfeck.

Video is below.

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People have been discussing what’s missing from men’s tennis for some time. Some say the speed of the game has taken away the game’s nuances, while others blame the absence of a consistent American challenger. But yesterday during the Australian Open, we realized that all the sport needed was MORE BIRD ATTACKS!

In today’s semifinal, the birds began to — as Chris Fowler called it on ESPN — “dive-bomb the court.”

Yesterday, McEnroe blamed it on the darn Indian Myras, but today, it was certainly the seagulls.

–Press Coverage.

Seagulls aren’t really that dangerous. How threatened could Andy Murray and David Ferrer be from a creature that’s commonly outsmarted by clean windows? And besides, THOSE GUYS ARE IN AUSTRALIA. That had to get past all of the crocodiles and kangaroos just to get to the match, and they’re gonna freak out over a couple birds. Those guys are worse than soccer players.

Run for cover, boys. You’d hate to end up like this guy: Read the rest of this entry »

People are following this Australian Open like it’s some kind of major tournament. What gives? Anyway, the bloggerati have been buzzing about this point that Andy Murray pulled out of his ass last night; the Scot managed to chase down a Marin Cilic ball and then hit it between the umpire’s chair and the stanchion of the net, somehow putting it on the court for a winner. Murray won the match and is headed to the final. If you missed his marathon point from days earlier, that’s after the jump. –Chris Mottram/SB Nation.

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