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| Murray collecting balls to serve to Novak Djokovic |
Andrew Barron "Andy" Murray, OBE (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player, ranked World No. 2[2] and British No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the ATP for the first time on 16 April 2007, and reached a career peak of World No. 2 in August 2009, then again in April/May 2013.[3] He is the holder of both the US Open and the Wimbledon Championships, and is the 2012 Olympic tennis men's singles champion.
At the 2012 US Open, Murray became the first British player since 1977, and the first British man since 1936, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament, when he defeated Novak Djokovic in five sets.[4] This title makes him the only British male to become a Grand Slam singles champion during the Open Era. On 7 July 2013, Murray won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first British man to do so since Fred Perry, 77 years previously. He again beat Djokovic in the final, this time in straight sets.[5]
At the 2012 Olympic Games, three weeks after losing his first Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, Murray defeated Federer in straight sets to win the gold medal in 2012 men's singles, becoming the first British champion in over 100 years. He also won a silver medal in 2012 mixed doubles, playing with Laura Robson.
He has been the runner-up in five other singles Grand Slam finals: the 2008 US Open, the 2010 Australian Open, the 2011 Australian Open, 2012 Wimbledon and the 2013 Australian Open, losing three to Roger Federer and two to Novak Djokovic. In 2011, Murray became only the seventh player in the Open Era to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year.[6] His current coach is Ivan Lendl.
Murray began his 2013 season by retaining his Brisbane International title, defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the final in straight sets.[149] Murray trying to win his second Major in a row, began the 2013 Australian Open well with a straight sets victory over Dutchman Robin Haase. He followed this up with straight set victories over João Sousa, practice partner Ričardas Berankis and French No. 14 seed Gilles Simon. In the quarterfinals he cruised past Jérémy Chardy in straight sets to set up a semi final clash with Roger Federer. After exchanging sets, Murray eventually prevailed in 5 sets, recording his first Grand Slam tournament triumph over Federer. With this victory, each member of the ATP's most dominant quartet of the previous four years (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) had beaten the other three at the Majors.[151] This victory set up Murray's third consecutive Major final appearance, and second in a row against Novak Djokovic. After taking the first set in a tiebreak, Murray was eventually defeated in four sets.[152] His defeat in this final meant that Murray became only the second man in the Open Era to achieve 3 runner-up finishes at the Australian Open, the other being Stefan Edberg.
At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray lost at the quarter-final stage to Juan Martín del Potro in three sets.[153] At the Miami Masters, Murray made it through his first four matches without dropping a set, and after overcoming Richard Gasquet in the semifinals, faced David Ferrer in the final. After losing the first set, and facing match point in the decider at 5–6, the Scot eventually took the match in a third set tiebreaker to win his second Miami Masters title, and leapfrog Roger Federer into second place in the rankings, ending a near-decade long time period in which either Federer or Rafael Nadal were ranked in the top two.[154] Murray briefly returned to number 3 in the world, following a third round defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte-Carlo, however reclaimed the number 2 ranking as a result of Federer failing to defend his title at the Mutua Madrid Open. Later, Murray lost at the quarter-final stage to Tomáš Berdych in straight sets.[155] On 15 May 2013 at the Rome Masters, Murray retired due to a hip injury during his second round match against Marcel Granollers on his 26th birthday. Murray had just battled back to tie the match at one set all after winning the second set on a tiebreak. This left Murray with only eleven days to be fit for the start of the French Open.[156]
Speaking at a press conference after the match, Murray said, "As it is, I'd be very surprised if I was playing in Paris. I need to make a plan as to what I do. I'll chat with the guys tonight and make a plan for the next few days then make a decision on Paris after the next five days."[157] He would go on to withdraw from Roland Garros later, citing back injury.[158] After a four-week break due to injury, Murray made his comeback at the 2013 Aegon Championships, where he was the top seed. After a rain delayed first day, Murray had to complete his second round match against Nicolas Mahut, and his subsequent match against Marinko Matosevic on the same day, both of which he won in straight sets. After beating Benjamin Becker in the quarterfinals, Murray next faced his first top ten opponent since losing to Tomas Berdych in Madrid, taking on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals. After dropping the first set against the Frenchman, Murray eventually raised his level and won in three to set up a final against Marin Čilić of Croatia, his third consecutive final on grass courts. He came from behind again to beat Čilić in three sets to claim his third title at Queen's Club.
Going into Wimbledon, Murray hadn't lost a match on grass since the previous year's final, and was on a winning streak of 11 matches on grass. In the first two rounds, Murray faced Benjamin Becker and Yen-hsun Lu respectively, defeating both in straight sets. His third round match was against 32nd seed Tommy Robredo, and despite a tour comeback over the past year, Murray overcame the Spaniard in straight sets to set up a clash with Mikhail Youzhny, the highest seed left in Murray's half following the unexpectedly early exits of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Despite facing a fightback in the second set, Murray won in straight sets to make it through to his tenth consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, in which he was to play Fernando Verdasco, the first left-handed player Murray had faced since the 2012 US Open. For the seventh time in his career, Murray had to come back from a deficit of two sets to ultimately come through in five, setting up a semifinal clash with 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz, the Polish player who beat Murray in their previous encounter. After Murray failed to break Janowicz's serve, the Pole took the opening set in the tiebreak, following a double fault from Murray. The Scot however managed to up his level of play, and won the next three sets, making it through to his second consecutive Wimbledon final, and third consecutive major final against Novak Djokovic.
Despite the Serb being the favourite to win the title throughout the Championships, Murray overcame Djokovic in a straight sets match that lasted over three hours, to become the first British winner of the men's singles title since Fred Perry in 1936, the first Scot of either sex to win a Wimbledon singles title since Harold Mahoney in 1896, and to extend his winning streak on grass to 18 matches.[159] With the win, he also became only the second man in the open era after Rafael Nadal to hold the Olympic singles gold medal and Wimbledon title simultaneously.
Rivalries
See also: Big Four (tennis)
Murray vs. Djokovic
Main article: Djokovic–Murray rivalry
Djokovic and Andy Murray have met 19 times with Djokovic leading 11–8.[160][161] Djokovic leads 2–0 on clay, 9–6 on hard courts, and Murray leads 2–0 on grass. The two are almost exactly the same age, with Murray being only a week older than Djokovic. They went to training camp together, and Murray won the first match they ever played as teenagers. The pair have met 9 times in finals, with Murray leading the series 5–4. Five of the finals were at ATP Masters 1000 events, with Murray winning the first three in straight sets, but Djokovic defeated Murray in the most recent 2 finals: first in straight sets, second in three sets. They have met in four Major Finals: The 2011 Australian Open, the 2012 US Open, the 2013 Australian Open and the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Djokovic has won in Australia twice, and Murray emerged as the victor at the US Open and Wimbledon.
They also played a nearly five-hour long semifinal match in the 2012 Australian Open, which Djokovic won 7–5 in the fifth set after Murray led 2 sets to 1. Murray and Djokovic met again in 2012 at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with Murray winning in straight sets. Djokovic won their three most recent meetings, including a three set thriller at the final of the Shanghai Masters, in which Murray held five match point opportunities in the second set, however Djokovic saved each of them, forcing a deciding set. He eventually prevailed to win his first Shanghai Masters title, ending Murray's 12–0 winning streak at the event. The three set thrillers they played in Rome and Shanghai in 2011 and 2012 respectively were voted the ATP World Tour Match of the Year for each respective season.[162][163] Many see this as the emerging rivalry, as the two are both in their prime years, and are both likely to be playing for at least another 5 years.[164] Murray ranks world number two behind Djokovic, with the latter having a wide lead.[165] After defeating Djokovic to claim the 2013 Wimbledon title, Murray stated that "That last game pretty much took everything out of me. I worked so hard in that last game. They will be the hardest few points I have to play in my life. Some of the shots he came up with were unbelievable."[166]
Murray vs. Federer
Murray and Roger Federer have met 20 times, with the series led 11–9 by Murray. Murray leads 10–8 on hard courts, they are tied 1–1 on grass. They have never met on clay. Federer won the first professional match they played, however since 2006, Federer has failed to regain the lead over Murray.[167] Federer leads 5–3 in finals, having won each of their Grand Slam Final meetings at the 2008 US Open[72] and 2010 Australian Open, both of which Federer won in straight sets, and the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, where Murray took the first set, but ended up losing in 4 sets. Murray leads 6–1 in ATP 1000 tournaments and 2–0 in finals. They have met four times at the ATP World Tour Finals, with Murray winning in Shanghai in 2008[168] and Federer coming out victorious in London in 2009, 2010 and in 2012. In August 2012, Murray beat Federer in the final of the London 2012 Olympics to win the gold medal, denying Federer a Career Golden Slam. In 2013 Murray beat Federer for the first time in a Major in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, prevailing in five sets.[169]
Murray vs. Nadal
Murray has played against Rafael Nadal on 18 occasions since 2007, with Nadal leading 13–5. Nadal leads 4–0 on clay, 3–0 on grass and 6–5 on hard courts. The pair regularly meet at Grand Slam level, with eight out of their eighteen meetings coming in slams, with Nadal leading 6–2 (3–0 at Wimbledon, 1–0 at the French Open, 1–1 at the Australian Open & 1–1 at the US Open).[170] Seven of these eight appearances have been at Quarter-final and Semi-final level. They have never met in a Slam final, however, Murray leads 2–1 in ATP finals, with Nadal winning at Indian Wells in 2009[171] and Murray winning in Rotterdam the same year[172] and Tokyo[173] in 2011. Murray lost three consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals to Nadal in 2011 from the French Open to the US Open. Of the past 19 Grand Slam drawsheets, they have been drawn in the same half 16 times. The pair did not meet in 2012, having been scheduled to meet in the semi-final of the Miami Masters before Nadal withdrew with injury.[174]
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