Andy Murray recently spoke up about his feelings on being clubbed in men’s tennis’ ‘Big Four’ alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. While Murray reflected proudly on how he did everything in his capacity to compete with his former rivals, he admitted that in terms of achievements, he was nowhere close to the Swiss, Spaniard and Serb.
Murray, a former No. 1, 46-time career singles titlist (including three Major titles), and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was almost always playing catch up with the the Big Three. While the Brit did incredible things in his prime, which lasted from the late 2000s to the early 2017, his longevity was severely impacted by injuries and subsequent surgeries.
Speaking to British GQ, Andy Murray was asked about what his thoughts on the ‘Big Four’ perception, which holds the Brit in the same league as the legendary Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. In response, the now-retired 38-year-old said:
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"It’s always difficult, because I’m aware that what those guys have achieved is far greater than anything I achieved. That being said, the reason why people started calling it “the big four” was because in every major event, whether it was Grand Slams or the Masters Series, two, three or four of us were always in the latter stage of events, competing to win the biggest tournaments."
Murray went on to recall his downfall from men's tennis' elite following a hip injury he sustained in 2017.
"When I had my hip injury, I was ranked No 1 in the world, and unfortunately afterwards I was not able to get back to where I was. But there was a period from when I was 22 to 29 when I was in the mix at most of the major events with those guys. I had some amazing matches with all of them," he added.
"I was the plus one, unfortunately" - Andy Murray
In the same interview, Andy Murray further stated that it was undeniably exciting for tennis fans to watch him compete against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. However, the Brit referred to himself as "the plus one" in the 'Big Four' equation. The 38-year-old though, proudly reflected on his title triumph at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships because of his win over the Serb in the final.
"There was always a possibility that I could win, and in many ways tennis fans who watched that period knew it was a great time to play, because you had three of the best players of all time, playing in one period. I was the plus one, unfortunately. When I look back at the fact that to get over the line at Wimbledon, I had to beat the best men’s player of all time (Djokovic), I’m proud I managed to do that," Andy Murray said.
In terms of his head-to-head win-loss record against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, Murray stands at 11-14, 7-17 and 11-25 respectively. Earlier this year, the Brit took charge of the Serb as a coach. Unfortunately though, the pair decided to cut short their high-profile collaboration ahead of this year's Geneva Open following a series of underwhelming results.
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