Sports Personality contender: Andy Murray - tennis

During the countdown to the 60th BBC Sports Personality of the Year award on Sunday, 15 December, we will be looking at each of the 10 shortlisted contenders.

Andy Murray ended a 77-year wait for a British men's singles champion at Wimbledon when he overcame world number one Novak Djokovic in July.

The 26-year-old Scotsman delighted a 15,000 crowd in the sunshine on Centre Court with a 6-4 7-5 6-4 victory.

It followed his Olympic title at the same venue last year, and his maiden Grand Slam crown at the US Open later in 2012.

Murray's triumph at SW19 was in stark contrast to the previous year's Championships, when he broke down in tears after losing in the final to Roger Federer, his fourth defeat in a Grand Slam final.

Many tennis followers felt his reaction showed an emotional side that had been largely unseen hitherto and former British number one Tim Henman said: "For everyone to witness the emotion of him losing in a Wimbledon final was a big stepping stone for him."

A month later, Murray put the disappointment behind him to beat Federer in a best-of-five set match for the first time and win the Olympic title, as Britain celebrated the latest success at its home Games.

Maintaining the momentum, Murray then won his first Grand Slam title when he saw off Djokovic to capture the US Open in an epic five-set match lasting almost five hours - but he was beaten to the BBC Sports Personality prize, finishing third behind fellow Olympic champions Sir Bradley Wiggins and Jessica Ennis-Hill.

In the first Grand Slam of this year at the Australian Open, Murray again faced Djokovic in the final, but after taking the first set his hopes of a second successive major title ended with a 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-2 defeat.

Murray missed the French Open through injury but then came the Wimbledon final and an extraordinary atmosphere on Centre Court - where temperatures reached 40C on the hottest day of the year - which Murray called "the best I've ever experienced at Wimbledon".

He said that "winning Wimbledon is the pinnacle of tennis" and described the concluding game as "the toughest I'll play in my career".

BBC pundit Henman said of the victory: "There is no question now that he has won round the British public, a small minority of whom have always been a bit sceptical of him in the past. People have seen a different side of him than they did 12 months ago.

"He always had a great game, but it is his determination and desire to achieve his goals that has really helped separate him from the rest.

"He has overcome so many hurdles in his career. Andy has inspired a generation."

After a straight-sets quarter-final defeat by Stanislas Wawrinka ended his defence of the US Open, Murray helped Britain back into the Davis Cup World Group for the first time since 2008.

His year on court was ended in September when he had surgery to fix a long-term back injury, but a fully fit Murray will be hoping for further success in 2014.