With Andy Murray announcing that he will retire from Tennis this year, there have been many top matches involving the former world number one.
I’m going to start with a disclaimer. These are the matches I’ve chosen that represent the best or funniest moments on a tennis court with Sir Andy Murray.
Having turned professional in 2005 there have been many memorable matches, many tough losses and amazing highs. There have been so many matches to choose from, but these will be my personal favourites.
You will probably disagree with the choices, and of course you are entitled to. However, as his career draws to a close there will be many other choices by other people. Here are my personal favourite top 10 matches that involved Murray
First ATP Tour Title – SAP Open 2006
OK, starting with probably the obvious. Going back to 2006 the year after he had turned professional Murray claimed his first ATP title. The SAP Open in San Jose saw the Brit face Lleyton Hewitt.
The first two sets swung either way with Murray losing the first 2-6 before dominating the second 6-1. A deciding tiebreak in the final set decider the winner with Murray coming out the victor.
First Masters Title – Cincinnati 2008
The next pick is Andy Murray’s first Masters 1000 title. The Brit was facing Novak Djokovic in the final. The two 21 year olds battled hard. Murray even served for for the match at 6-3 in the second set, before the Serbian fought back.
It was a straight sets victory in the end for Murray, as the Brit outlasted a tired Djokovic to win with another tiebreak.
Showing the fun side
Many people in the past have commented that Murray is boring and not funny. Well this next “match” should dispute that. Those that know Murray well are accustomed to his dry sharp wit. In 2013 Murray won Queens for the third time. He also arranged a charity match to raise money for The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
Here are the highlights of that brilliant funny match.
Rio Olympics 2016
Now I’ve shifted the timeline a little, after all these are my favourite matches and the order that I want to put them in. So we move to Rio 2016. Andy Murray was defending the Gold medal he won in London four years earlier (more on that later). No player had ever won back to back singles Golds at the Olympics.
Having dispatched Djokovic in the first round Juan Martin Del Potro stood between Murray and Olympic history.
Defeats King of Clay in Madrid
Madrid 2015 Murray was against the undisputed King of Clay in Rafael Nadal in the Madrid Masters final. Brits have never been very good on clay, we know this. However, Murray showed that well really we can do OK on the red dirt
French Open Final 2016
Roland Garros and Murray have never really been the best of friends. A Clay court grand slam, never a good thing for Brits. As we have seen previously, we admit to being awful on clay.
I’ve included this match even though Murray lost, as making the final in Paris was a great achievement. It also meant that the Brit had reached the final of every grand slam. Murray even claimed a set of Djokovic.
We now reach my top four matches. These were the easiest ones to place in order with no prizes for guessing what makes the ultimate match.
London Olympics 2012 – The turning point.
Having defeated Djokovic on Centre Court Wimbledon in the semi-final, Murray had gained enormous confidence from this match. However, the final would be tougher – or at least that is what all the odds said. Exactly one month to the day since losing to Roger Federer on the same court, the pair faced off again.
Because of the loss just one month before, Murray had been written off by many. The Swiss star would take the gold medal and add the one thing missing from all his titles. However, Murray had not read the script. On a warm sunny Sunday Murray took the biggest title of his career at that point.
Finally a slam title!
On the back of winning on home soil, and sort of laying a Fred Perry ghost to rest (we’ll come back to him). Murray flew out to New York for the Final Grand Slam of the year. The US Open at Flushing Meadows.
Having lost the previous four slam finals he had been in, the Brit was desperate not to make it five in a row. Once again facing Djokovic, Murray took the first two sets before the Serb fought back to level things up. The match was going the distance, in the early hours UK time, Murray got the slam trophy monkey off his back.
Ghent 2015 Davis Cup final
Ah memories! Brussels had been on high alert following a terrorist attack in Paris. There were fears that the Davis Cup final may have to be postponed or played behind closed doors in Ghent as the Belgian capital went into lockdown. However, the final still went ahead. Britain had not won the Davis Cup for 79 years and Belgium had never won it.
Great Britain needed to win one match on the final day to claim the trophy. The number ones were on first. Murray against David Goffin, a match that will be remembered for a very long time by the Brits.
So, what makes number one? It was always going to be Andy Murray winning his second grand slam.
Laying the ghost to rest
Everywhere Murray went he had been asked the same question “when will you win a slam”, that question was answered at the US Open. So the question changed, “When will you win Wimbledon”. After all, it is all British players home slam. After losing to to Federer the previous year, Murray had again made the final. There had been a scare or two along the way. A five set match against Fernando Verdasco that nearly spoilt the party. Murray fought back from two sets down to defeat the Spaniard.
Making the final, Murray was against Djokovic again. All the pundits had the Serbian winning and it being a long match. They were partly right. It was a long match, however it was the Brit that won. Britain finally had a male Wimbledon champion, it had been 77 years since Fred Perry had won the last of his Wimbledon crowns. No Brit had managed to win the title since.
Ask any Brit where they were on the seventh of July 2013 and they will be able to tell you what they were doing when this happened
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