Andy Murray said it was the best day of his life after finally succeeding in opening a beer bottle using his eye socket during a New York brunch.
“I’m ecstatic” said Murray with a weird smile borne of lack of practice. “When you have a goal for so long, have setbacks along the way, and then finally succeed it’s the best feeling. To feel the taste of a cold Heineken while the bottle top is still lodged in your eye socket is something I’ll never forget. This one’s for you mum!”
Murray’s achievement was no surprise to his loyal fans. Murray’s Dunblane schoolteacher Jim McLeod said: “I sensed he had promise when he opened 10 bottles in a row with a bottle opener at the age of five. At seven years old, he could open beer bottles on the classroom window frame. It wasn’t too long after that that he could flick the bottle top off with a knife. I knew he would go all the way and nail it with his eye socket.”
Murray’s success comes after a frustrating run of near misses after which many doubted he would ever scale the bottle opening summit. Particularly galling was the failure at Wimbledon this year when he was thwarted by Swiss maestro Roger Federer who successfully opened a bottle with his eye socket for a record 17th time. But promising signs emerged at the London Olympics when Murray achieved success in the only slightly less prestigious “bottle opening with butt cheeks” event.
Murray celebrated being the first Briton in 76 years to achieve Grand Slam bottle opening success in unusual fashion by playing a five hour long tennis match with old friend Jock O’Vitch. “I won the first two sets on emotion alone” said Murray. “The next two sets were a real struggle – but then I realised the problem and removed the bottle top still lodged in my eye and the last set was a breeze!”