The sheer relief of ending Britain's 77-year wait for a male singles champion at Wimbledon was etched on Andy Murray's face.
He was posing with his coach Ivan Lendl for a picture in front of the Wimbledon trophy at the Champions' Ball in 2013.
Murray had hardly slept before he was heading back to the All England Club the day after the final. There he posed again, holding the trophy, in front of Fred Perry's statue, who was the last British man to have won Wimbledon.
Murray talked in the coming days and weeks about leapfrogging Novak Djokovic -- the man he had just beaten in the Wimbledon final -- at the top of the ATP world rankings.
The great Roger Federer, coming off a second-round defeat at Wimbledon, was on the wane, having also fallen at the quarterfinals in the French Open and the semifinals in Melbourne.
Rafael Nadal, while still the King of Clay, was feeling his way back after a long injury lay-off and was reeling from a first-round exit at the All England Club.
Nobody put it past him at that point. Murray was the coming force in the game, having won two of the past four Grand Slams as well as an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic seemed to be incapable of reaching those heights of 2012.
But the Scot didn't know the back injury that had ruled him out of the French Open was about to rear its ugly head again.
UNDER THE KNIFE
Murray went into the 2013 US Open as second favourite. Djokovic's record at Flushing Meadows, having reached four finals and won the title in 2011, meant the bookmakers still saw the world No.1 as the man to beat.
The Scot's New York title defence ended in the quarterfinals, in which he was beaten in straight sets by Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss No.2, playing the best tennis of his career to date, totally outplayed the Scot on Arthur Ashe Stadium to win 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
"When you work hard for something for a lot of years, it's going to take a bit of time to really fire yourself up and get yourself training at 110 percent," Murray admitted afterwards. "That's something that is kind of natural after what happened at Wimbledon."
Two weeks later on September 19, Murray was sitting in a hospital bed. He tweeted a picture of himself with his thumbs up having undergone surgery on his back.
"Did I win?" was the first thing the 26-year-old asked when he came to.
Murray's back had been affecting everything he did, and he struggled when he woke up in the morning. He made the decision to have the minor operation in order to solve what had been a lingering issue.
Little did he know just how long it would take him to return to his previous level.
Thanks for all the well wishes, means a lot to me... pic.twitter.com/KokbiW8Y4M
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) September 23, 2013
BACK IN THE GAME
Murray returned to competition after nearly four months out in January 2014 at the Qatar Open. A set and break up in his second-round match, Murray lost 12 of the last 15 games to go down 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Germany's Florian Mayer.
"I am stiff and sore but that's to be expected," Murray said. "It's more the joints than muscles. I have to get used to changing direction and playing at this level again."
His quarterfinal defeat in four sets to Federer at the Australian Open a few weeks later suggested his match fitness was a work in progress.
After Melbourne, Murray suffered defeats to Marin Cilic in Rotterdam, Grigor Dimitrov in Mexico and Milos Raonic at Indian Wells, where Murray admitted he "wasn't good enough." They were all players he was expected to beat.
He had yet to win an ATP title since lifting the Wimbledon trophy. Everywhere he went, the statistic was thrown back at him.
The weekend before the start of the 2014 Miami Open, Murray sat down to dinner with Lendl. For an hour or so, they kept the conversation light, but then talk turned to their strategy going forward.
Issues had been coming to the surface in the previous two months regarding Lendl's availability. The eight-time major winner, keen to play on the seniors tour, wanted to decrease his number of committed weeks from 20 in the 2013 season.
Having already discussed the issue several times on the phone, Murray had an inkling of what was coming. On March 19, 2014, he split with Lendl. He was "gutted."
"I just feel like, to make a change and to make a difference, you need to spend a decent amount of time with the player," Murray said. "Ivan completely understands that as well.
"And that was why we decided to stop working together, because it wasn't going to be of benefit to anyone doing the job half-baked. It had to be done properly. That's what Ivan's like.
"I will be disappointed for a few weeks but you have to move on. Who knows, maybe it is the spark that I need."
After losing to Djokovic in the Miami quarterfinals, Murray slipped to No.8 in the world -- his lowest ranking since 2008.
MURRAY MADE TO WAIT
Murray agonised over who he wanted to guide him through the next stage of his career; he admitted that the split with Ivan Lendl had hit him hard.
But if the Scot had started the trend of appointing superstar coaches with his hiring of Lendl at the end of 2011, he broke the mould again. When he finally decided to break new ground at the top of the men's game by appointing a female coach, he was met by a stony silence.
It started with a text message to Amelie Mauresmo. "I'm looking for a coach at the moment. If you're interested in chatting to me, let me know," he wrote to the former Australian Open and Wimbledon winner.
She was either surprised to hear from him, or she wanted to keep him waiting, because she did not send a message back until the next morning.
The former world No.1 was announced as Lendl's successor via a press release a couple of hours before the 2014 French Open final, and she was speaking to a packed media room at Roland Garros just 15 minutes before Djokovic and Nadal went out on court.
She had spoken several more times with Murray on the phone since the initial text, and met him in Paris before the tournament got under way. "I thought she was extremely calm. She listened very well," Murray said.
There was a will on both sides to give it a go. Mauresmo would be his coach for the grass-court season, and, if things worked out, they would extend their time together.
"She's a good person," Murray added. "We will communicate well together, and I think that's a very important part of coaching. I hope it works well."
Female coaches were a rarity in professional tennis, especially on the men's tour, though Murray played down the significance of his decision to go with Mauresmo.
"For me, it doesn't feel so different because obviously when I was growing up, I had my mum working with me until I was 17 years old," Murray told the BBC.
"I have always had a strong female influence in my career. I found with my mum especially that she listened extremely well.That was something that I felt right now that I needed. For me, it didn't feel like a strange thing to do."
RETURN OF THE CHAMPION
After 19 consecutive victories on grass, Murray's winning streak came to a shocking end as the defence of his Queen's title went out with a whimper in a third-round 7-6 (10), 6-2 defeat to Radek Stepanek.
He tried to remain positive in his post-match news conference, but there was no hiding his disappointment. "I only have myself to blame I lost that first set," he said.
He was still feeling the lingering effects of his back surgery, 10 months on from the operation. He was still unable to train fully.
"The body needs a little break just now," he admitted, pointing to his exertions at the French Open, in which he went to five sets twice before being ruthlessly dismantled by Rafael Nadal in just 90 minutes in the semifinals.
Fast forward three weeks, and Grigor Dimitrov "sensed" something was wrong with Murray as the pair knocked up before their 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Murray's title defence ended with a limp straight-sets defeat. It was the first time he failed to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon since 2008, with his ranking dropping to 10th.
The result accentuated underlying issues and prompted speculation that there was a growing level of unrest within his camp as he appeared to direct his anger toward his box on Centre Court, where Mauresmo, girlfriend Kim Sears and mother Judy Murray sat.
Murray was seen leaving SW19 alone after the match with his agent, refusing to comment on the situation.
The discontent surrounding his exit from Wimbledon continued with reports emerging that long-standing members of his coaching team were unhappy at the handling of Mauresmo's appointment.
Reports in the Daily Telegraph suggested Murray held showdown talks with Mauresmo, who then returned home to France with the issues yet to be resolved
A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
Murray announced he was extending his partnership with Mauresmo at least through the 2014 US Open.
After quarterfinal exits at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters, Murray went into the final major of the year seeded eighth -- his lowest Grand Slam seeding since Wimbledon 2008. He beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 16 for his first win over a top-10 player since winning Wimbledon, but fell in the next round to Djokovic.
With his place at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals far from guaranteed, the Scot embarked on a hectic run of six tournaments in six weeks. He won his first title of the season in Shenzhen and followed that up with titles in Vienna and Valencia.
He would arrive at the O2 Arena with weary legs, only securing his place there the week before at the Paris Masters, where he went out to Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
Before the World Tour Finals, Murray said a victory over Djokovic or Federer would be the last hurdle for him to overcome in his bid to return to top form, and he was given that chance against Federer in his last round-robin match.
But instead of showing he was back to his best, he capitulated. Needing to win in straight sets to reach the last four in London, Murray suffered a humiliating 6-0, 6-1 defeat, a brutal demolition lasting just 52 minutes. It matched the worst defeat of his career at Tour level, against Djokovic in Miami seven years ago.
"At the end, I was happy I didn't win the second-to-last game to be quite honest," Federer said seven months later at Wimbledon 2015. "Yeah, it's uncomfortable. I don't know. I don't like it."
Murray's team felt the need to rally around him after a performance he later termed "embarrassing."
The loss capped a miserable record for Murray in 2014 against his main rivals. At the end of the year, his combined record against the top three players in the world was 0-9.
He wasn't failing against his biggest rivals prior to his back surgery in September 2013. Asked how far away he felt from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, Murray said, "Well, after tonight that's quite clear, quite a long way from that level."
Federer suggested there may be confidence issues and John McEnroe claimed the Mauresmo partnership wasn't clicking. The Scot vowed he would go away with his coach in the offseason to iron out the kinks.
On the day of the final, Federer was forced to pull out injured. Murray, playing Mario Kart on his sofa, received a call from ATP chief Chris Kermode and agreed to fill in for free at the O2 Arena, but he couldn't even get one over on Djokovic in an exhibition set.
He would at least receive some cheer when Kim Sears said yes to his marriage proposal later that month.
STARTING TO CLICK
Later in November 2014, Murray bared his teeth by sacking Dani Vallverdu and Jez Green, reportedly due to lingering tensions with Mauresmo.
He put in his first block of training with the Frenchwoman in Miami, and the hard work paid off when he reached his eighth Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.
Murray looked to be in command against Novak Djokovic at one set all when he broke for a 2-0 lead in the third set. However, the rejuvenated Serb won 12 of the next 13 games to secure his eighth major title with a 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 victory.
The Scot had let Djokovic get in his head, distracted by his opponent's apparent injury troubles in the third set. "He does this all the time," Murray said to himself on court.
Murray married his long-time girlfriend Kim Sears on April 11, 2015, during a ceremony in his hometown of Dunblane and being a husband suited him.
He went on to win his first clay-court title in Munich, and the second soon followed when he beat Rafael Nadal on the dirt for the first time, after six previous defeats, in the Madrid final.
Beating Djokovic on the red stuff at Roland Garros proved one step too far, though Murray did take the Serb to five sets in their semifinal. It was his eighth successive defeat to the world No. 1.
Djokovic had now won 11 of his past 12 meetings with the Scot. It was the most lopsided rivalry among any of the Big Four.
"I think the US Open and Wimbledon, I prefer the conditions there for my game. So hopefully I can close the gap [to Djokovic] a bit more," Murray said.
HITTING A BRICK WALL
Murray's partnership with Mauresmo blossomed in 2015, the former world No. 1 helping him introduce more variety to his shot selection, while new assistant coach Jonas Bjorkman brought more aggression to his game.
The Frenchwoman then announced she was pregnant on June 3. Now the decision to bring Bjorkman on board made even more sense, with the Swede to take over coaching duties for the rest of the season after Wimbledon.
After winning a record-equaling fourth title at Queen's Club, Murray said he was in even better form than when he won Wimbledon.
He marched his way to the brink of a third final at The Championships but 7-time champion Federer stood in his way.
It's not as if Murray didn't give it a good shot. For a player who had been many experts' slight favorite, he produced what he thought was his best serving performance of the tournament but came up against a brilliant player back in form.
On his way to the final, Federer lost his serve just once, and he was unbreakable against Murray. The Scot kept with him as best as he could, but was picked off three times at the end of three close sets.
The Swiss' match stats were almost unreal: He hit 20 aces and won 84 percent of points on his first serve; his average first-serve speed was 118 mph; the second serve was 100, compared with Murray's 89.
Is there anything you can do to stop someone who is serving like that? "No, not really," admitted Murray, glumly.
More disappointment followed at the 2015 US Open, with Murray losing to big-serving Kevin Anderson in the last 16. The Scot had made the quarterfinals of the previous 18 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments he had played.
"Disappointing to lose because of that,'' Murray said. "Obviously that's many years' work that's gone into building that sort of consistency.''
That elusive third major title seemed further away than ever.
SO NEAR YET SO FAR
Murray reclaimed the world No. 2 ranking but found himself in a painfully familiar position at the Paris Masters final, holding a runners-up trinket while Djokovic lifted the real prize.
It was six defeats in seven meetings against the Serb in 2015 and would have been generous to still call it a rivalry. Murray targeted one last crack at Djokovic in the knockout stages of the season-ending World Tour Finals, but didn't even advance out of his group.
With the Davis Cup Final looming, the Scot spent most of the build-up to the tournament practicing on clay for the match against Belgium in Ghent. At least he went on to inspire Great Britain's first title in that competition since 1936.
In many ways, it had been Murray's most impressive season to date; he recorded his biggest wins tally -- 69 -- in a season, and achieved his highest year-end ranking of No. 2 in the world. But Djokovic was showing no signs of slowing down.
FAMILIAR FAILURE
Mauresmo, her baby son in tow, returned to the fold with Murray for the 2016 Australian Open. They hit the ground running again, with Murray setting up another major final against Djokovic.
The night before the match, the Briton was awake until 1:30 a.m. watching his brother Jamie win the men's doubles title. He went on to lose yet again to his Melbourne nemesis. It was a fifth Australian Open final defeat for him, and a fourth to Djokovic.
He broke down in tears postmatch as he paid tribute to his heavily pregnant wife Kim, whose father Nigel Sears had a health scare earlier in the tournament. His family was a "priority" -- far more important than any tennis match.
Sophia Murray was born two weeks after the Australian Open final on Feb. 7. The new father took off the rest of the month to be with his wife and loved being with his new family.
But the difficulties of combining parenthood and a playing career took their toll in Miami, when he had to rubbish talk of a rift with his coach Mauresmo.
A defeat to Grigor Dimitrov on March 28 fuelled speculation as the Frenchwoman watched from a different part of the stadium to the players' box and he received a code violation for smashing his racket.
"If I'd had a falling out, then Amelie wouldn't be here at the tournament," Murray insisted. "We had dinner with all our families last night, so we certainly haven't fallen out."
PULLING THE PLUG
Murray announced his split from Mauresmo less than two months later on May 9, ending a groundbreaking, two-year relationship during which he failed to add to his collection of Grand Slam titles.
Mauresmo said "dedicating enough time along with the travel has been a challenge" following the birth of her son last August. She was in Spain as Murray lost the Madrid Open final to Novak Djokovic, but the Scot's new assistant coach, Jamie Delgado, took charge off the court.
They had spent only 10 days together in Miami since the Australian Open. "It makes things difficult because you need to work your way through those tough times together," Murray said.
Murray's clay-court form didn't seem to suffer and he even beat Djokovic in the Rome Masters final on his 29th birthday.
But the Frenchwoman would later indicate their split may not have been so amicable, saying Murray's behaviour on court played a part.
For the first time in his career, Murray went into the French Open as a serious contender. Some even said he had the edge on his Serbian rival but Djokovic beat him for a fifth time in their seven major final meetings, though, completing a career Grand Slam.
As Heath Ledger's Joker said after a battle with Batman in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight, "You and I are destined to do this forever." Murray must have felt the same way toward his very own Djoker.
RETURN OF THE KING
Murray took five days off after the French Open final. On the fourth of those, four days out from the start of Queen's, he picked up his phone and called an old friend, one he hadn't spoken to in months.
It was Ivan Lendl.
"It all happened very quickly," Murray said.
Lendl chatted to a couple of mates on Murray's team to see how things were going and what the motivation was like. Then he spoke to Murray, who asked him if he would become his coach again.
The Czech slept on it, then messaged Murray on Saturday saying he wanted to do it.
"He's single-minded and knows what it takes to win the big events," Murray said. "The experiences he had, I think psychologically he helped me in the major competitions."
They got off to the perfect start, with Murray winning a record fifth title at Queen's on Father's Day. He promised to keep his giant jeroboam of champagne on ice. "Hopefully have something to celebrate in a few weeks," he said.
Less than two weeks later, Murray was toiling away on Wimbledon's Centre Court and heard cheers from elsewhere.
The result of Djokovic's third-round defeat to Sam Querrey soon flashed on the scoreboard and, minutes later, the world No. 2 was made odds-on favourite to win his second 'home' Grand Slam title.
The Djokovic result would indeed come to have some bearing, with Murray reaching his third Wimbledon final.
He let out an expletive-laden tirade in the showpiece and later denied it was aimed at Lendl, who had slipped off for a toilet break.
"I wasn't annoyed," the Scot said during a news conference. "He's done that after every single match here after two sets. I don't know if it's a ritual of his or not. Yeah, I was annoyed at something, but not that." He didn't elaborate.
Murray wanted his player's box to be just as fired up as him. He was trying to pick up the intensity of the crowd, to help them help him. He asked for energy, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge complied from the Royal Box.
But the crowd didn't need much encouragement when he was producing a display like this. They roared him home in the third-set tiebreaker, each of the seven points he won met with a louder cheer.
The relief was palpable when, on Murray's second championship point, Raonic hit a return into the net. Murray buried his face in a Wimbledon towel, crying his eyes out. He had played second fiddle so many times. It was his moment now. All the hard work this man had put in.
How different these tears were to those from the 2012 final, when Murray came up short against Federer on Centre Court and showed a side no one had seen before.
Murray is a guy who has tasted second place a lot. But opportunity knocked and he went out and seized it.
He couldn't wipe the smile off his face when the interviewer told him to go and see his name up in gold again on the Roll of Honour.
He chatted away in front of the board to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, then to actor Benedict Cumberbatch. He walked through the corridors of Centre Court, everyone congratulating him as they snapped away with their camera phones.
He soaked up every moment, the bells ringing out for 15 minutes at St Mary's Church up the road from the All England Club, as is customary when a British player wins the title.
He even had time for a few selfies before returning to the men's locker room to get ready for the Champions' Ball. There, he posed for another photo with Lendl in their tuxedos, standing in front of the Wimbledon trophy, three years on.