"When I was competing to win Slams, I played Federer & Djokovic, tough finals against guys that won Majors beforehand" - Andy Murray on his struggles in Major finals
Andy Murray notched up his 700th career win with a three-set victory over Taro Daniel at Indian Wells. After the match, the Brit took a moment to reminisce about his illustrious career and his Grand Slam results in particular.
The former World No. 1 pointed out how he always had to face players who had already won Grand Slams in the final, a stroke of misfortune that made it all the more difficult for him to win a Major.
For reference, the Brit faced Roger Federer thrice and Novak Djokovic once in his first four Major finals before he defeated the Serb at the 2012 US Open to win his maiden Slam.
In fact, Murray has faced a player other than Federer and Djokovic only once in the final of a Major in 11 appearances -- Milos Raonic. He went on to defeat the Canadian at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships to win his third Grand Slam.
SEVEN. HUNDRED. WINS. 🤩
@andy_murray beats Taro Daniel 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 for another incredible milestone in his historic career!
#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 https://t.co/bRU2mtXrlE
Speaking to the press after his 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win against Taro Daniel in the first round of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters on Friday, Murray recalled how daunting it was to face players who had already experienced winning Grand Slams.
"When I was competing to win Slams, I played Roger Federer a couple of times. I played Novak Djokovic - who maybe I didn't know at the time, but [look at] what he's gone on to achieve," Murray said. "Obviously, really tough finals against guys that won Majors beforehand."
s since.
On this day in 2008, Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win his first Grand Slam at the
@AustralianOpen.
It's been nothing but 🏆s since. https://t.co/WbI4fz2CZD
Federer, on the other hand, won his maiden Grand Slam at SW19 in 2003, defeating Mark Philippoussis in the final. Rafael Nadal won the 2005 French Open after vanquishing Mariano Puerta in the final. Novak Djokovic recorded his maiden Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open, where he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.
Murray suggested that the other members of the Big 4 did not have to go through the same ordeal that he did to win their first Slam since they faced off against relatively inexperienced players in the final.
"I was chatting just the other day with one of the guys that I'm working with. When Roger [Federer] won his first slam, he won against [Mark] Philippoussis in the final. Rafael Nadal beat [Mariano] Puerta in the final. Novak [Djokovic] bit [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga," Andy Murray said. "None of those guys had won Majors before either."
"Winning the 2012 Olympics in the final against Roger was a big, big step for me" - Andy Murray
During the press conference, Andy Murray revealed that his 2012 Olympic triumph was the turning point in his career.
Having lost the Wimbledon final that year to Roger Federer, the Brit was left doubting his abilities. But winning the Olympics a month later at the same venue was enough to put the issue to bed for the three-time Grand Slam winner. The triumph was made sweeter by the fact that Murray beat Djokovic and Federer back-to-back to secure gold.
"When I lost that Wimbledon final in 2012 against Roger, there was still pressure building, questions getting asked about me and whether I could win a Grand Slam, whether that was possible," Murray said. "I was asking myself those questions as well. I was working really hard to get there, and I was not managing to quite get over the line."
8 July 2012 - loses heartbreaking @Wimbledon final vs Federer 💔
5 August 2012 - defeats Federer at Wimbledon for London 2012 @Olympics gold 🥇
A huge win #OnThisDay propelling @andy_murray towards Grand Slam glory
https://t.co/pzCiDCFZQR
The World No. 88 considered it a "big, big step" for him, even going so far as to call the time between the two finals one of the most important periods of his life.
"After that match, I was obviously very upset for a few days after that, kind of accepted I guess that it might not happen, [that I] may not win a major. But what I could control was the effort and everything that I was putting into trying to keep going, keep improving," he said.
"Winning that sort of Olympics four weeks later in the final against Roger on the same court in the fashion that I did was a big, big step for me and my career. The period between the Wimbledon and the Olympic Games was really, really important for me," he added.