Andy Murray takes a cheeky dig at Roger Federer after landing in Basel for Swiss Indoors
Andy Murray will be in action at the Swiss Indoors Basel this week. Basel is the home event for Roger Federer, where the recently retired star even served as a ball kid in his younger years.
The 41-year-old was expected to make his comeback following knee surgery in the Swiss tournament, according to an announcement last April. But the 20-time Grand Slam champion decided to call time on his storied career at the Laver Cup last month instead.
Murray reached out to the Swiss star as soon as he arrived in his home country, telling him that he had "just landed in the city of one of the greatest athletes of all time." Federer's name is always in the mix whenever the topic of GOATs or the greatest of all time in tennis is raised, alongside great rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
However, the Brit was not referring to Federer. Instead, it was the eight-time Wimbledon champion's fellow Basel-native athlete, footballer Granit Xhaka, that Murray mentioned in his cheeky message. Xhaka is the captain of the Swiss national football team and plies his trade with Arsenal FC in England, the club that Murray supports.
"As soon as I arrived in Basel, I wrote Roger Federer a message with the following content: 'Hey Roger, I just landed in the city of one of the greatest athletes of all time: Granit Xhaka,'" said Andy Murray, according to Watson News.
Murray, known for his dry humor, made the quip after he was asked about his knowledge of the country.
"One of my best friends, Dani Vallverdu, who coaches Stan Wawrinka, got married in Gstaad. I was there. A beautiful place. Unfortunately, I don't know the country that well. But of course, I know that Granit Xhaka is from here. I'm a fervent Arsenal fan. Granit is captain and is having a very good season. He scored another wonderful goal on Sunday," said Andy Murray.
When Roger Federer looked back on his days as a ball kid in Basel
Roger Federer has always been proud of his humble beginnings as a ball kid in his home tournament in Basel. In a video posted five years ago by Tennis TV, the Swiss maestro could be seen watching footage of him receiving a medal token, along with other ball girls and boys, from champion Michael Stich during the event's trophy ceremony in 1993.
"Like it was yesterday," he said, laughing. "I kind of remember it, of course. I did it for two years. It was Michael Stich. It's a great memory for me. I loved being a ball boy here. I was able to see the best players in the world first-hand and see how they would prepare, how they would sweat and how did they deal with the pressure. It's good moments for me."
"At heart, I'm always going to be a ball boy," ended Federer as he also shared the pizza parties he hosts for the Basel ball kids in each of his final appearances since 2006," he added.