Distant fourth? You cannot be serious, blasts Murray
Scot defends his record following Mcenroe jibe My Olympic gold medals mean a lot to me, he says
The nagging dichotomy with Andy Murray is that, while he is arguably the greatest sports figure this country has ever produced, he remains only the fourth best tennis player of his era.
For all that he is routinely bracketed among the ‘big four’ of the men’s game, his three major titles constitute only a quarter of Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam loot, a fifth of Rafael Nadal’s and a sixth of Roger Federer’s.
John Mcenroe, seldom a master of tact, put the deficit of greatness in stark terms over the weekend by describing him as “still a distant fourth”.
To Mcenroe, it appears little short of a miracle that Murray has achieved the No1 ranking in such a gilded chapter for the sport. But the Scot struck back yesterday at this less-than-flattering analysis, emphasising that he has also won two Olympic golds, when neither Federer nor Djokovic has won one.
“For me, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks,” said Murray, on his return to Queen’s Club, where he begins his quest for a sixth title tomorrow. “I’m very proud of the Olympic medals, they mean a lot to me.
“Within tennis, a lot of people just go, ‘Oh, that guy was a better player because he won more slams than that one.’ If that’s the case, then what’s the point of us all being here? Why is everyone covering this event? There are other tournaments outside the slams. Everyone’s criteria for judging a player will be different. If it’s purely on slams, then my Olympic medals mean nothing to that person – but they mean a lot to me.”
Selective statistics can give cruelly incomplete pictures of stunning careers. True, Murray has won no more majors than Gustavo Kuerten but has shown far greater versatility than the Brazilian claycourt specialist ever did. History should rank him higher than, say, fellow three-time slam champion Bobby Riggs, whose main claim to posterity is having lost the 1973 ‘Battle of the Sexes’ to Billie Jean King. Murray’s body of work always suffers for running in parallel to those of perhaps the three finest men’s players who have lived.
It seems peculiar for Murray to be drawn into a discussion of where he stands in the record books at the age of 30. As he put it here: “I’m No1 in the world, and I’m talking about stopping playing,” he said. “It’s a strange position to be in.”
In part, he has brought the debate upon himself, by wondering aloud recently that he might only have another two years left at the summit. Nick Kyrgios, a close friend of his, countered that he was “bluffing”, but there is cogency to the idea that Murray cannot realistically expect to follow Federer’s example by continuing until 35 and beyond.
Where Federer has a natural economy of movement, allied to balletic skills, Murray has a physique honed by relentless gym work. Whether there is the desire to sustain this level of lung-bursting grind throughout his fourth decade is a moot point.
“Just because Roger has done it, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen to everyone,” he acknowledged. “I want to make the most of the last few years of my career – if that’s two years, four years or six, it doesn’t matter. I still enjoy the training and the travelling, that’s not the issue. But you never know how you’re going to be physically.” One certainty is that Murray’s love for his craft is not unconditional. It could ebb at any moment, just as it did when he required back surgery after his Wimbledon glory in 2013. “When I was having problems with my back, I wasn’t enjoying it,” he said. “It was hurting all the time and it was making me unhappy. Right now, little things hurt. If I had another chronic injury that caused me pain every time I stepped on a tennis court, that would stop my enjoyment.”
As he goes in search of a third Wimbledon triumph this summer, to equal Fred Perry, Murray understands that his grip on his hard-won pre-eminence is precarious. Stan Wawrinka, the No2 seed at Queen’s, could soon usurp him at the top. So, too, could a resurgent Rafael Nadal. He should savour these sunlit days while they last. Meanwhile, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares won the Mercedes Cup doubles title in Stuttgart, beating Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-7, 7-5, 10-5 in the final.