Andy Murray sweeps Roger Federer, gives Great Britain tennis gold

Great Britain's wait to see one of its own celebrate on Centre Court is over. Homeboy Andy Murray, empowered by a crowd waving Union Jacks and roaring at a pitch you never hear at Wimbledon, did something unheard of: dismantle Roger Federer on Centre Court and win the Olympic men's tennis gold medal.

It's the greatest day in British Olympic history since, well, Saturday, when Team GB won three gold medals in athletics.

[Slideshow: Andy Murray finally wins at Wimbledon]

For the better part of a decade, the Brits have been very insistent about the need to see the Scot win a Wimbledon title. It got away from him four weeks ago Sunday when the indomitable Federer battled back to capture his seventh singles title in a thrilling four-setter. Sunday belonged to the Scot, who won 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to win the gold medal. When does Roger Federer ever lose in straight sets?

That loss at Wimbledon helped Murray finally get over the mental hurdle that plagued him at Wimbledon.

"I talked to [former great] Ivan Lendl after that and he said 'you'll never face more pressure than you did at Wimbledon,' " Murray told NBC. "That definitely helped me.

"This is the biggest win of my life ... I never expected a scoreline like this."

[Related: Murray also going for mixed doubles gold]

Federer, arguably the greatest singles player of all-time, was out to complete a career Golden Slam.

Murray, who won Great Britain's 16th gold at London 2012, seemed motivated by something far larger than himself, a chance to give a country something unseen in generations. No Brit has won the Wimbledon men's title since 1936. He's never won a Grand Slam title, losing in the finals four times, but in front of a raucous crowd that was far more diverse than the normally refined Wimbledon audience, the match was never even close. The native of Dunblane, Scotland was in complete command, particularly after breaking Federer on his first service game of Set 2 and then saving six break points in the next game to go up 6-2 3-0, hitting a down-the-line backhand to take the game.

[Slideshow: Up close and personal with Olympic athletes]

The one debate is whether this surpasses or matches a Grand Slam title. John McEnroe, who once opposed pros playing in the Olympics, called it "almost on par."

"It's definitely different," Murray said.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.

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