Andy Murray: How the former world No.1 cemented his legacy in the Big Four
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In an era where tennis was dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, British hero Andy Murray rose to the challenge, etching his name among the sport's most elite and unforgettable players.
The renowned trio burst onto the tennis scene in the early 2000s - a time where the sport was looking for its next big tennis stars, and how lucky we got.
While they dominated Grand Slams across the decades and re-wrote history, Murray stood out as amongst the crowd, consistently vying for the biggest accolades in tennis.
In fact, no player has a better record against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic than Murray who earned himself a well-deserved spot amongst one of the most iconic quartets in sporting history - the ‘Big Four’.
Across a career spanning almost two decades, Murray contested 85 matches against his three biggest rivals, but just how good was his record against them? Let’s break it down…
Andy Murray vs Roger Federer
Murray and Federer challenged each other 25 times across their careers, with the Swiss star only just grasping the lead in a tight head head-to-head, 14-11.
The pair played their first match at the 2005 Bangkok Open final, which saw Federer take the crown 6-3, 7-5, before Murray fought back to win the next six of their seven battles.
Arguably the Brit’s most significant win against the 20-time Grand Slam champion came at the London 2012 Olympics, where he won his first of two gold medals on Centre Court at Wimbledon after defeating Federer in straight sets - marking what was then the biggest feat of his career.
However, Federer went on to dominate in the latter stages of their rivalry, winning their last five encounters including their final match which took place in the semi-finals of the 2015 Cincinnati Open.
Andy Murray vs Rafael Nadal
Of the 24 meetings between the Spaniard and Brit, Nadal won 17 times, while Murray clinched victory on seven occasions. It wasn’t until their sixth career meeting that the three-time Grand Slam champion claimed his first win against Nadal at the 2008 US Open semi-final, eventually clawing over the line in four sets.
Just one year later they went on to compete against each other in the Rotterdam Open final where Murray edged another close contest 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 - marking his first of three finals won against the 14-time Roland Garros champion.
Their last match came at the Madrid Open final in 2016 – the most dominant and decorative year of Murray’s illustrious career. The then 29-year-old put in a valiant effort to take down the five-time Madrid Open champion on his favourite surface, clinching a 7-5, 6-4 win to close out his third clay court trophy and end their rivalry on a winning note.
In terms of level of tennis, in terms of mentality winning spirit - Andy was the only one at the same level of myself, Roger and Novak.
Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic
It was Djokovic who Murray faced the most time across his career, with the pair facing each other across the net an incredible 36 times since their first meeting in 2005.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion established his dominance early on in their rivalry, with Djokovic coming out on top in their first four matches. However, the Brit soon snapped the Serbian’s win streak at the Masters 1000 tournament in Canada in 2008, where Murray prevailed 6-3, 7-6(3), before going on to win their next two matches.
Despite the rivalry ending 25-11 in Djokovic’s favour, Murray always rose to the occasion on the world's biggest stages. Competing in the 2012 US Open final, Murray battled through a gruelling five-set epic – eventually coming out on top 7-6(10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 to earn his maiden Grand Slam title.
This fuelled the fire within Murray who went on to defeat Djokovic one year later in the Wimbledon final to lift his first of two crowns in SW19 - ending Great Britain's 77-year wait for a Gentleman's Singles champion.
Murray’s final victory against the former world No.1 was a memorable one, which came at the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals.
With a first ATP Finals title in sight and the year-end world No.1 ranking on the line, the Briton sprinted to a 6-3, 6-4 victory – ending Djokovic’s four-year run of success at the tournament and concluding the season on top of the world’s rankings for the first time in his career.
Over his career, Murray tallied up a combined 29 wins against Federer, Djokovic and Nadal – the most of any player in history.
While he may not have won as many Grand Slam titles as his fellow competitors, no other player could go toe-to-toe with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic as many times as Murray could.
On top of that, the British sporting hero became the only other player outside of the three to top the ATP rankings in an 18-year period from 2004 to 2022.
From my side Andy, I have so much respect. I loved playing against you, even though I lost so many times against you and it was brutal. Congrats on everything you've achieved and everything that's to come.
Speaking with Eurosport and former British tennis player, Laura Robson following his retirement, Murray said, "I’m fully aware that the guys I was competing against (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) have had significantly better careers and resumes than I have.
"But for a period and in the middle part of my career, I was competing with them in the biggest tournaments consistently and managed to get to No.1 in the world while they were playing and that meant a lot to me.
“What Rafa, Novak and Roger have achieved is so out of reach for basically anyone that plays the game of tennis. The things I achieved are miniscule in comparison to that, it can be easy to forget about winning a few Grand Slams and Olympics and things like that but I’m proud of what I achieved and I worked extremely hard for it - that’s all that matters.”
Find out more about about Murray's career timeline and some of the greatest achievements from his 19-year-long career:
