ICON Legends – Andy Murray – Tennis Titan

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Andy Murray said farewell to Wimbledon in an emotional TV interview with Sue Barker last month. This summer, the 37-year-old called time on an incredible career that has seen him win three Grand Slams.

Murray is without doubt the greatest British tennis player of the modern era, if not of all time, and his phenomenal triumphs were rewarded with a knighthood back in 2016. He spent a grand total of 41 weeks as world number one and has claimed the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award a record three times.

So, it’s only right that we bestow the greatest honour upon Murray as we look back on his achievements by inducting him into our ICON hall of fame.

Wimbledon winner

Murray suffered heartbreak in the 2012 Wimbledon final as he lost to Roger Federer. After coming so close, he was determined to finally secure a home Grand Slam win the following year.

Ahead of the 2013 tournament, he was unbeaten on grass since the previous final, winning 11 consecutive matches. Murray strolled to the quarter-finals, reaching the final eight without dropping a set. He was also handed a boost that Federer and Rafael Nadal both suffered early exits from the competition.

But in the quarter-finals, disaster struck as he found himself two sets down against Fernando Verdasco. It looked to be another year of heartache but, no doubt spurred on by the result 12 months before, Murray launched an extraordinary comeback to secure a win in five sets.

He came back from another set down to beat Jerzy Janowicz in the semis to become the first British man since 1938 to reach the final and set up a centre court showdown with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian was the hot favourite going into the clash and already had five Grand Slam titles to his name.

However, Murray refused to let the pressure affect his performance and he won his 18th grass match in a row to win the Wimbledon title. Three years later, he repeated the feat, winning in straight sets against Milos Raonic to secure his third major title.

Gold star Murray

A year before Murray’s heroic maiden Wimbledon win, he was inconsolable on the court as he lost in the final to Federer. The Scot was determined to make amends and, luckily for him, the pair would meet again just a few weeks later.

Murray returned to Wimbledon to compete for Team GB at London 2012. While he won a silver medal alongside Laura Robson in the mixed doubles, it was in the singles competition where he really strutted his stuff.

He lost just one set on the way to the final and, typically, it was Federer that stood in the way of a gold medal. Buoyed by the disappointment of their meeting a few weeks earlier, he lost just seven games as he beat the Swiss in straight sets.

Murray’s triumph saw him become the first British man to win gold in more than 100 years and four years later he did it all again. After jetting off to Rio to defend his crown, he saw off Juan Martin del Potro to become the first ever person to win two singles gold medals in tennis.

After making such a name for himself in the Olympics, it was fitting that Murray’s final tournament came in Paris at this summer’s games. He withdrew from the singles but he teamed up with old pal Dan Evans in the doubles and the pair managed to reach the quarter-finals.

Taking on the golden era

You could argue that had Murray been born in a different era, he’d have far more major titles to his name. Unfortunately for him, it was bad luck that he happened to peak at the same time as three of the best players ever to grace the sport.

He lost his first four major finals – three to Federer and one to Djokovic – before securing his first Grand Slam by beating Djokovic to claim the US Open in 2012. In doing so, Murray became the first British major singles winner since Virginia Wade in 1977, and the first male since Fred Perry 41 years prior to that.

All of Murray’s Grand Slam final defeats came at the hands of either Federer or Djokovic, while Nadal was never given the opportunity. Murray lost 56 of his matches against the rest of the ‘big four’, which demonstrates just how strong they were.

Yet the fact he managed to win 29 matches in an era of such dominance was testament to just how good he was in his pomp. While the final few years of Murray’s career were blighted by injury, there’s no doubting that on his day he was one of the most exciting players to ever pick up a racket and he’ll be a huge loss to the sport.

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