Wimbledon Champ Murray Has Tea At No 10

New Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has been celebrating his historic win with tea in Downing Street.

He was greeted on the steps of Number 10 by David Cameron who wasted no time in shaking his hand.

Earlier the Prime Minister fuelled speculation the 26-year-old could be in line for a knighthood.

"I can't think of anyone who deserves one more," he declared.

Murray has said his first victory in the men's singles final on Sunday was a "huge release of tension and pressure".

He told Sky News he had only slept for about an hour and a half after the champions' ball.

“I feel very relaxed today. There was a huge release of tension and pressure yesterday," said Murray.

"Once I get back on the match court I'll feel how much more relaxed I am out there, or preparing for big events."

Murray admitted he was still in a daze after his straight sets win against Novak Djokovic.

“I only slept for an hour and a half last night so I was pretty beat up when I woke up. But it’s a beautiful day to wake up as Wimbledon champion."

He also paid tribute to the "unbelievable" support he received from the Centre Court crowd and people watching around the country.

Murray's triumph drew the highest television audience of the year so far, with a peak audience of 17.3 million tuning in despite the sunny weather.

The Scotsman - the first British men's champion at SW19 since Fred Perry in 1936 - partied on Sunday night at the traditional end-of-tournament event in central London.

He was joined by his girlfriend Kim Sears, his mother and father, Judy and William, as well as several of the VIPs who watched him defeat Serbia's Djokovic on Centre Court.

Beforehand Murray, celebrating his second Grand Slam victory, said his success would "take a little while to sink in" and admitted: "I don't really know what to say just now."

"Winning Wimbledon, I think, is the pinnacle of tennis," he added.

Marion Bartoli, the winner of the women's final, also attended the party at a hotel in Park Lane.

The 28-year-old French number one appeared to joke about comments made by BBC commentator John Inverdale , who suggested she was "never going to be a looker".

Speaking to Sky's Stephen Douglas, she said: "How do I look?"

Murray squandered three championship points in a hard fought final game before beating Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 - a win David Cameron said had made Britain "proud" .

"I worked so hard in that last game," he said in a post-match press conference. "It's the hardest few points I've had to play in my life ... I still can't believe it."

Murray leapt onto the roof of the commentary box on Centre Court to celebrate with his family, friends and coaching staff.

There was a hug for his girlfriend and a long embrace for coach Ivan Lendl, a former world number one who twice missed out on the Wimbledon title.

Murray almost forgot his mother, who was sitting just behind the players' box, before returning to hug her too.

In a Twitter message retweeted more than 87,000 times, Murray said: "Can't believe what's just happened!"

The champion's grandparents, Roy and Shirley Erskine, who celebrated at a sports club in Dunblane, said the atmosphere in Murray's hometown was "tremendous".

"We were telling him what wonderful support there was up here, " Shirley Erskine told Sky News.

Grandfather Roy said he did not think Andy would not let his historic success and all the extra attention go to his head.

"I don’t think Andy will change in any way," he said.

"I think he will still be very committed to his tennis - he doesn’t know anything else. It’s been his way of life for the last 11 years."

Murray now has less than two months to prepare for the US Open - the title he won in 2012 in a thrilling five-set encounter with Djokovic that lasted nearly five hours.

It is not yet known whether he is planning to return to Dunblane, where he took an open-top bus tour in front of 20,000 people last summer to celebrate his Olympic and US Open titles.

Fans packed themselves into the town's community centre as well as Murray's former tennis club to see their favourite son lift the Wimbledon trophy in only his second Centre Court final.

Meanwhile, marketing experts have predicted Murray could become the third highest-earning British sportsman of all time.

He is expected to land a raft of new sponsorship deals and could be in line to earn up to £15m a year.

His manager, Simon Fuller, said only a World Cup win for England's footballers could match the enormity of his Wimbledon triumph.

"I think that by winning Olympic gold, the US Open and Wimbledon, he's proved himself to be a true champion. Anything's possible," he said.