Top 5 matches from the underrated Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray rivalry
Andy Murray has given the clearest hint about his impending retirement from tennis after suffering a painful loss in the second round of the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.
The Brit was downed by Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the second round in Dubai in straight sets. Murray visibly expressed his frustration with multiple outbursts in the match and afterwards talked about his retirement.
The 36-year-old suggested that he might not play after the summer and added that he was "bored" with the questions about his retirement being asked after every match.
"I mean, I'm likely not going to play past this summer. I get asked about it after every single match that I play, every single tournament that I play. I'm bored of the question, to be honest. Yeah, I'm not going to talk more about that between now and whenever the time comes for me to stop. But yeah, I don't plan on playing much past this summer," Murray was quoted as saying by The Express.
Over the years, Andy Murray has become a force on the ATP tour and is certainly among the greatest players to ever pick up the racket. As part of the 'Big 4,' the former World No. 1 formed great rivalries with fellow ATP legends like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Andy Murray's rivalry with Novak Djokovic stretches back to 2006. Over the years, the duo have played 36 matches on the ATP tour. They last played at the 2017 Qatar Open and Djokovic holds a comfortable 25-11 head-to-head advantage.
With that said, let's take a look at the top five matches from the Djokovic-Murray rivalry:
#5 London Olympics 2012 SF
Andy Murray was seeded No. 3 at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. As the brightest hope of the host nation to clinch a medal in tennis, Murray defeated Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis, and Spain's Nicolas Almagro en route to the semifinal.
Novak Djokovic was seeded No. 2 and overcame Italy's Fabio Fognini, USA's Andy Roddick, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Djokovic and Murray played two identical sets in the semifinal in which the Brit broke the Serb's serve at 6-5 in both sets to book his place in the gold medal match, 7-5, 7-5.
Andy Murray went on to defeat the top seed Federer to win the first of his two Olympic gold medals. Meanwhile, Djokovic was outfoxed by Del Potro in the bronze medal contest.
#4 Wimbledon 2013 final
After losing to Roger Federer in his maiden Wimbledon final in 2012, Andy Murray worked his way back into his second consecutive title contest in London in 2013. To reach the final, he survived a five-setter marathon against Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals and a four-setter against Jerzy Janowicz in the semifinal.
Top seed Djokovic was given a run for his money by Juan Martin del Potro in a nearly five-hour semifinal. In their fourth Grand Slam final against each other, Andy Murray recovered from a break down in the first and second set to take the lead.
In the third set, when serving for the title, the home favorite was made to sweat and required four championship points to win his second Grand Slam title, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
#3 French Open 2015 SF
This was the first match between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic at the French Open, and incredibly, it was played over two days. Murray reached his second consecutive semifinal on the claycourt Slam after beating the likes of Jeremy Chardy and David Ferrer. Djokovic was the runner-up that year and bettered defending champion Nadal to reach the semifinal.
The Serb won the first two sets comfortably by breaking Murray's serve thrice. He was close to victory in the third set when the Brit roared back into the contest by breaking Djokovic at 5-5 and winning the set on his serve. The match was suspended for the day mid-way through the fourth set due to an impending thunderstorm and resumed the next day.
Andy Murray took the fourth set the next day. But Djokovic routed the Brit in six of the last seven games in the deciding set to book his place in yet another final in Paris, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1. Djokovic would go on to lose the title to Stan Wawrinka.
#2 Australian Open 2012 SF
This was the first of seven tour-level matches between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in 2012. Murray had reached the final in Melbourne in 2010 and 2011 and was eager to get past the last hurdle and win the title. Seeded No. 4, he dropped only one set to reach the semifinal.
Djokovic, on the other hand, was the defending champion and the top seed and faced no trouble in reaching yet another semifinal at the Rod Laver Arena.
Murray won the third set via a tiebreak to take a two-set-to-one lead, only for Djokovic to level the score in the fourth set. In the decider, the Serb held his nerve to register a 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 win in 4 hours and 50 minutes. Djokovic would go on to defend the title against Rafael Nadal in the final.
#1 US Open 2012 final
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were the second and third seeds respectively at the 2012 US Open. The Brit had faced little trouble en route to his second title contest in New York, defeating the likes of Feliciano Lopez, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic, and Tomas Berdych.
Djokovic was the defending champion and had an even better campaign, losing only one set on the way to the final.
In the second Grand Slam final between the two, Murray edged past the Serb in the first set via a 24-minute tiebreaker and claimed the second set to get one step closer to a Major title.
However, the match was far from over as Djokovic mounted an incredible comeback in the next two sets to force a decider. After a marathon five-setter that lasted 4 hours and 54 minutes, Andy Murray clinched the title, 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2, and became the first British man to win a Grand Slam since 1936.