Andy Murray (tennis player)
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Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in
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. Murray has won three Grand Slam singles titles, two at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
(
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and
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) and one at the US Open (
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), and has reached eleven major finals. Murray was ranked in the top 10 for all but one month from July 2008 through October 2017, and was no lower than world No. 4 in eight of the nine year-end rankings during that span. Murray has won 46 ATP singles titles, including 14 Masters 1000 events. Originally coached by his mother Judy alongside his older brother
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and te ...
, Murray moved to Barcelona at age 15 to train at the Sánchez-Casal Academy. He began his professional career around the time Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal established themselves as the two dominant players in men's tennis. Murray had immediate success on the ATP Tour, making his top 10 debut in 2007 at age 19. By 2010, Murray and Novak Djokovic had joined Federer and Nadal in the
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, the group of players who dominated men's tennis during the 2010s. Murray initially struggled against the rest of the Big Four, losing his first four major finals (three to Federer and one to Djokovic). He made his major breakthrough in 2012 by defeating Djokovic to win the US Open, becoming the first British major singles champion since Virginia Wade in
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, and the first male champion since Fred Perry in 1936. A month earlier, he won the men's singles gold medal against Federer, and a silver medal in
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
at the
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. From 2013 through 2016, Murray reached another six major finals. He won two of these encounters, at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. Murray had his career-best season in 2016. During that year, Murray made three major finals, winning Wimbledon. He also defended his title at the
2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
to become the only player, male or female, to win two Olympic gold medals in singles. Murray also became world No. 1 for the first time this season, and clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking by winning his only Tour Finals title over Djokovic. Since 2016, he has struggled with various injuries and fell out of the top 100 in 2018 due to only seldom playing on tour, though he has since slowly risen back to the top 50. Murray is an all-court player who excels in particular at defense, returning serve and constructing points. He is generally regarded as having one of the best and most consistent two-handed backhands on the ATP Tour. Murray is considered a national hero in Great Britain for reestablishing the country as a leading force in men's tennis for the first time since the early 20th century. He and his brother led the Great Britain Davis Cup team to a title in
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. Murray has been outspoken as a
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, and became only the second top-10 player in the history of the ATP Tour to have a female coach when he hired Amélie Mauresmo. He is currently the only player to defeat Novak Djokovic in a Wimbledon final.


Early and personal life

Andy Murray was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of
Judy Murray Judith Mary Murray, OBE (née Erskine; born 8 September 1959) is a Scottish tennis coach. She is the mother of professional tennis players Jamie and Sir Andy Murray. Life and career Murray was born on 8 September 1959 in Bridge of Allan, Sti ...
(née Erskine) and William Murray. His maternal grandfather, Roy Erskine, was a professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
in the late 1950s. Murray is a supporter of Hibernian Football Club, one of the teams his grandfather represented, and Arsenal Football Club. Murray began playing tennis at the age of three when his mother Judy took him to play on the local courts. He played in his first competitive tournament at age five and by the time he was eight he was competing with adults in the Central District Tennis League. Murray's elder brother,
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and te ...
, is also a professional tennis player, playing on the doubles circuit, and became a multiple Grand Slam winner in the discipline (both men's and mixed). Murray grew up in Dunblane and attended Dunblane Primary School. He and his brother were present during the 1996 Dunblane school massacre, when Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher before shooting himself; Murray took cover in a classroom. Murray says he was too young to understand what was happening and is reluctant to talk about it in interviews, but in his autobiography ''Hitting Back'' he states that he attended a youth group run by Hamilton and his mother gave Hamilton lifts in her car. Murray later attended
Dunblane High School Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...
. Murray's parents split up when he was 10, with the boys living with their father while being mentored in tennis by their mother. He believes the impact this had on him could be the reason behind his competitive spirit. At 15, he was asked to train with
Rangers Football Club Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...
at their School of Excellence, but declined, opting to focus on his tennis career instead. He then decided to move to Barcelona, Spain. There he studied at the
Schiller International School Schiller International University (SIU) is a private for-profit university with its main campus and administrative headquarters in Tampa, Florida. It is named after the German playwright and philosopher Friedrich Schiller. It has campuses on tw ...
and trained on the clay courts of the Sánchez-Casal Academy, coached by Pato Alvarez. Murray described this time as "a big sacrifice". His parents had to find £40,000 to pay for his 18-month stay there. In Spain, he trained with
Emilio Sánchez Emilio Ángel Sánchez Vicario (born 29 May 1965) is a Spanish former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won five Grand Slam doubles titles and the men's doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Sanchez is the older brother of multi ...
, former world No. 1 doubles player. Murray was born with a bipartite patella, a condition in which the kneecap remains as two separate bones instead of fusing together in early childhood, but was not diagnosed until the age of 16. He has been seen holding his knee due to the pain caused by the condition and has pulled out of events because of it. In February 2013, Murray bought Cromlix House hotel near Dunblane for £1.8 million. Brother Jamie had celebrated his wedding there in 2010 but it had since ceased trading. The venue re-opened as a 15-room five-star hotel in April 2014. Later that month Murray was awarded freedom of Stirling and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Stirling in recognition of his services to tennis. Murray began dating Kim Sears, daughter of player-turned-coach
Nigel Sears Nigel Sears (born 4 April 1957) is a British tennis coach, best known for coaching former top five players Amanda Coetzer, Daniela Hantuchová and Ana Ivanovic during his long career. Playing career Sears reached a career high singles ranking of ...
, in 2005. Their engagement was announced in November 2014, and they married on 11 April 2015 at
Dunblane Cathedral Dunblane Cathedral is the larger of the two Church of Scotland parish churches serving Dunblane, near the city of Stirling, in central Scotland. The lower half of the tower is pre- Romanesque from the 11th century, and was originally free-standi ...
in his home town, with the reception at his Cromlix House hotel. The couple live in Oxshott,
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
with their son and three daughters; the youngest of the girls was born in March 2021. He identifies himself as a
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, and has been repeatedly vocal in his support for women players and coaches. He is also a vocal supporter of LGBT rights and supports same-sex marriage. In June 2020, he also lent his support to the Black Lives Matter movement; he and fellow players took a knee during the Schroders Battle of the Brits. Just before the 2020 US Open, he said he was "fully supportive" of Naomi Osaka's decision to sit out her semi-final match at the Western & Southern Open in the wake of Jacob Blake's shooting in Wisconsin; Osaka ultimately played the match. Murray has invested in up to 30 UK businesses using Seedrs, a crowdfunding platform. In January 2021, before his trip to Melbourne for the Australian Open, Murray tested positive for COVID-19 and remained in quarantine and isolating at home, eventually missing the tournament. In March 2021, Murray decided to withdraw from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after his wife Kim Sears, gave birth to their fourth child. Murray travelled to California in October 2021 to compete in the Indian Wells Tennis Championships, following training he reported that his trainers but more importantly his wedding ring (woven into the laces) had been stolen from underneath his car in the hotel car park. Following widespread appeals on Social and on mainstream media the trainers and his wedding ring were returned and reunited with him in good time for his first competitive tennis match at Indian Wells in four years.


Junior career

Leon Smith, Murray's tennis coach from 11 to 17, described Murray as "unbelievably competitive", while Murray attributes his abilities to the motivation gained from losing to his older brother Jamie. In 1999, at the age of 12, Murray won his age group at the Orange Bowl, a prestigious event for junior players. He won it again at the age of 14, and is one of only nine tennis players to win the Junior Orange Bowl championship twice in its 70-year history, alongside the likes of
Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...
, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles. In July 2003, Murray started out on the
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and
Futures Futures may mean: Finance *Futures contract, a tradable financial derivatives contract *Futures exchange, a financial market where futures contracts are traded * ''Futures'' (magazine), an American finance magazine Music * ''Futures'' (album), a ...
circuit. In his first tournament, he reached the quarter-finals of the Manchester Challenger. In September, Murray won his first senior title by taking the Glasgow Futures event. He also reached the semi-finals of the Edinburgh Futures event. For the first six months of 2004, Murray had a knee injury and could not play. In July 2004, Murray played a Challenger event in Nottingham, where he lost to future Grand Slam finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. Murray then went on to win Futures events in Xàtiva and Rome. In September 2004, he won the Junior US Open and was selected for the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
World Group play-off match against Austria later that month; however, he was not selected to play. Later that year, he won BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. As a junior, Murray reached as high as No. 6 in the world in 2003 (and No. 8 in doubles). In the 2004-instated combined rankings, he reached No. 2 in the world. Junior Slam results:
Australian Open: -
French Open: SF (
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)
Wimbledon: 3R (
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)
US Open: W (
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
)


Professional career


2005: Turning professional

Murray began 2005 ranked No. 407, but when he was in South America in January, he hurt his back and had to take three months off. In March, he became the youngest Briton to play in the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
. Murray turned professional in April and was given a wild card entry to a clay-court tournament in Barcelona, the Open SEAT, where he lost in three sets to Jan Hernych. In April, Murray parted acrimoniously from his coach Pato Alvarez, complaining about his negative attitude. Murray then reached the semi-finals of the boys' French Open, where he lost in straight sets to Marin Čilić.
Mark Petchey Mark Rodney James Petchey (born 1 August 1970) is a former tennis player from England, who turned professional in 1988. He now works as a tennis commentator and analyst for Amazon Prime, ITV, the BBC, the Tennis Channel and others. Personal ...
agreed to coach Murray for four weeks until the end of Wimbledon, but it metamorphosed into a full-time position. Given a wild card to Queen's, Murray progressed past Santiago Ventura in straight sets for his first ATP match win. Following a second-round win against Taylor Dent, he played former Australian Open champion
Thomas Johansson Karl Thomas Conny Johansson (; born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish retired professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 7 singles ranking on 10 May 2002. His career highlights i ...
in the third round, losing in three sets after cramping and twisting his ankle. Following his performance at Queen's, Murray received a wild card for
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
. Ranked No. 312, Murray became the first Scot in the Open Era to reach the third round of the men's singles tournament at Wimbledon. In the third round, Murray lost to 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian due to cramping and fatigue, having led two sets to love. Following Wimbledon, Murray won Challenger events on the hard courts of
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and
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. He then experienced his first Masters event at Cincinnati, where he beat Taylor Dent, before losing in three sets to then-No. 4, Marat Safin. With a wild card entry, Murray played Andrei Pavel in the opening round of the US Open, where he recovered from down two sets to one to win his first five-set match. However, he lost in the second round to Arnaud Clément in another five-set contest. Murray was again selected for the Davis Cup match against Switzerland. He was picked for the opening singles rubbers, losing in straight sets to Stanislas Wawrinka. Murray made his first ATP final at the Thailand Open where he faced No. 1 Roger Federer. Murray lost in straight sets. Murray beat Tim Henman in their first meeting, at the Basel Swiss Indoors in the first round, and eventually reached the quarter-finals. In November, Murray captained Scotland at the inaugural
Aberdeen Cup The Aberdeen Cup was an annual exhibition tennis tournament held between national teams representing England and Scotland. It was hosted in the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre in Aberdeen, Scotland. The tournament was held in 2005 and 2006, but ther ...
against England led by Greg Rusedski. This was an exhibition tournament and the only event where Murray played Rusedski, they never met on the Tour. Rusedski beat Murray in the first match, but Murray won the second. This was also the first time that Andy and his brother Jamie Murray played doubles as seniors. Scotland defeated England 4½ – 2½. He completed the year ranked No. 64 and was named the 2005 BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year.


2006: First ATP title and British No. 1

The 2006 season saw Murray compete on the full circuit for the first time and split with his coach Mark Petchey and team up with
Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is a former professional tennis player and an American tennis coach. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles rank ...
. At the SAP Open in San Jose in February, Murray defeated a top ten player for the first time, Andy Roddick. Murray went on to claim the title defeating No. 11 Lleyton Hewitt. As a result, Murray became the British No. 1 later that month, ending Tim Henman's seven-year run. Murray was now world No. 42, Greg Rusedski No. 43, and Tim Henman No. 49. Rusedski regained his British No. 1 status on 15 May for eight weeks. Murray suffered a straight sets defeat at the Australian Open, to Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round and to Gaël Monfils at the French Open, in five sets. Murray did reach the fourth round for the first time at both Wimbledon (beating 3rd seed Andy Roddick in the 3rd round) and the US Open. Murray played in Davis Cup ties against Serbia, Israel and Ukraine. Murray missed the opening singles matches before losing the doubles as Britain lost their tie against Serbia. During the tie with Israel, Murray won his rubber and lost the doubles before pulling out with a neck injury before the reverse singles, as Britain lost the tie. Against Ukraine, Murray won both his singles rubbers, but lost the doubles, as Britain won the tie. At the Masters, Murray lost in the first round in Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome. Murray went out of the tournaments in Indian Wells and Hamburg in the second round. Murray reached his first Masters semi-final in Toronto at the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, losing to Richard Gasquet. At Cincinnati, Murray became only one of two players, alongside Rafael Nadal, to defeat Roger Federer in 2006, breaking the Swiss star's 55 match winning streak on hard courts. He lost two rounds later to Andy Roddick, but broke into the top 20 for the first time. In the final two Masters events in Madrid and Paris, Murray exited both tournaments at the last-16 stage ending his season, with losses to Novak Djokovic and Dominik Hrbatý. Murray was a finalist at the
Legg Mason Tennis Classic The Washington Open (known as the Citigroup, Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ...
. Playing doubles with his brother in Bangkok the pair reached the final. After the French Open, where Murray was injured again, he revealed that his bones hadn't fully grown, causing him to suffer from cramps and back problems. In November, the
Aberdeen Cup The Aberdeen Cup was an annual exhibition tennis tournament held between national teams representing England and Scotland. It was hosted in the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre in Aberdeen, Scotland. The tournament was held in 2005 and 2006, but ther ...
was held for the second time, with Murray leading team Scotland and Greg Rusedski captaining England. Scotland won 6½–1.


2007: Ascending to the top 10

Murray reached the fourth round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where he lost a five-set match against No. 2, Rafael Nadal. Following the Miami Masters, where he reached the semi-finals, Murray reached the No. 10 ranking on 16 April. The British No. 1 sustained tendon damage during his first round match at the
German Open German Open is a name given to many sports events established in Germany, and include: *German Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament held since 1955. *German Open (golf), was a golf tournament on the European Tour *German Masters, a snook ...
in Hamburg. Murray was up 5–1 when he hit a forehand from the back of the court and snapped the tendons in his wrist, leaving him out of action from 15 May until 7 August, thereby missing Wimbledon. During this rest period, Murray rose to No. 8, but by 7 August, he had dropped to No. 14. Murray suffered a third round loss at the US Open. At the Masters tournaments, Murray reached the semi-finals of Indian Wells and Miami. At Rome and Cincinnati, Murray exited in the first round whilst going out in the second in Canada. In the final two masters tournaments, Murray exited in the third round in Madrid and he went out in the quarter-finals of Paris. Murray won titles in San Jose and St. Petersburg. He also reached the final of tournaments in Doha and Metz, finishing the season ranked 11th in the world. In November, Murray split with his coach Brad Gilbert and added a team of experts along with Miles Maclagan, his main coach.


2008: First major final and Masters titles

In 2008, Murray suffered a first round loss at the Australian Open to eventual runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and a third round loss at the French Open to Nicolás Almagro. Murray then made his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon before making his first final at the US Open. During the tournament in New York, Murray claimed his first win over Nadal. That victory meant that he became the first player from Britain since Greg Rusedski in
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to reach a major final. In his first Grand Slam final Murray suffered a straight sets loss to Federer. At the Beijing Olympics, Murray suffered one of the worst defeats of his career, losing his first round singles match to No. 77 Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan in straight sets. That abject defeat was still on his mind in a BBC interview five years later – despite an intervening Olympic gold medal and a head-to-head win – when he met the same player (now ranked No. 75) in the second round of Wimbledon 2013. In the Masters tournaments, Murray went out in round four in Indian Wells and the first round of Miami. In the clay Masters Murray made the third round of Monte Carlo and Hamburg and the second of Rome. On the American hard court swing Murray made the semi-finals of Toronto before winning his first Masters shield in Cincinnati. He added another shield to his collection in Madrid; before losing in the quarter-finals of Paris. Now at No. 4 in the world, Murray qualified for the first time for the
Masters Cup The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles ...
. He played well in defeating an injured Federer but lost to Davydenko in the semi-finals. Murray ended 2008 ranked No. 4. Murray also won tournaments in Doha, Marseille and St Petersburg.


2009: Ascent to world No. 2 and two Masters titles

Murray opened the 2009 season with a successful defence of his title at the Qatar Open in Doha, defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Murray made it to the fourth round, losing to Fernando Verdasco. Murray won his eleventh career title in Rotterdam, defeating No. 1, Nadal in three sets. Murray next went to Dubai but withdrew before the quarter-finals with a re-occurrence of a virus that had affected him at the Australian Open. The virus caused Murray to miss a
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
tie in Glasgow. Murray then lost in the finals to Nadal at Indian Wells, but won a week later in Miami over Djokovic for another masters title. In the lead-up to the French Open, Murray beat No. 9, Nikolay Davydenko at the Monte Carlo Masters, the first time he had beaten a top ten player on clay, though he lost to Nadal in the semi-finals. Murray was upset in round two of the Rome Masters by qualifier Juan Mónaco, and he reached the quarter-finals of the
Madrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters: *Madrid Open (tennis) The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional ...
, losing to Juan Martín del Potro. During this time Murray achieved the highest ever ranking of a British male in the Open Era when he reached the No. 3 ranking on 11 May 2009. Murray reached the quarter-finals of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, but was defeated by Fernando González in four sets. Murray won a title for the first time on grass at Queen's and became the first British winner of the tournament since 1938. In the final Murray defeated American James Blake. At Wimbledon, against Stanislas Wawrinka, Murray's fourth round match was the first match to be played entirely under Wimbledon's retractable roof. This also enabled it to be the then latest finishing match ever at Wimbledon, a record he would go on to eclipse three years later in a second round match against Marcos Baghdatis. However Murray lost a tight semi-final to Andy Roddick. Murray returned to action in Montreal, defeating del Potro in three sets to take the title. After this victory, he overtook Nadal in the rankings and held the number two position until the start of the US Open. Murray followed the Masters win playing at the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, where he lost to Federer. At the US Open, Murray was hampered by a wrist injury and suffered a straight-sets loss to Čilić. Murray won both his singles matches, and lost at doubles in the Davis Cup against Poland, but then missed six weeks with a wrist injury. In November, Murray won at Valencia, but bowed out in round two of the Paris Masters. To end the season, Murray did not make it out of the round robin at the
World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
in London. He ended the year ranked #4 for the second consecutive year.


2010: Hopman Cup and Australian Open finals

Murray and Laura Robson represented Britain at the Hopman Cup. The pair progressed to the final, where they were beaten by Spain. At the Australian Open Murray beat Nadal and Čilić before losing in the final to Roger Federer. At the
BNP Paribas Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
in Indian Wells, Murray reached the quarter-finals, losing to Robin Söderling in straight sets. Murray next played at the
2010 Sony Ericsson Open The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open (also known as the 2010 Miami Masters), was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tenni ...
, but lost his first match of the tournament to Mardy Fish, afterwards saying that his mind hadn't been fully on tennis. At the
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, Murray suffered another first match loss, this time to Philipp Kohlschreiber. He entered the doubles competition with Ross Hutchins; the duo lost to the Bryan Brothers on a champions tie-breaker. Murray reached the third round in the Rome Masters, and the quarter-finals at the Madrid Masters, losing both times to David Ferrer. After playing an exhibition match, Murray started the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
with three tough wins, before losing in straight sets to Tomáš Berdych in the fourth round. In London, Murray progressed to the third round, where he faced Mardy Fish. At 3–3 in the final set with momentum going Murray's way (he had just come back from 3–0 down), the match was called off for bad light, leaving Murray fuming. Coming back the next day, Murray was edged out by the eventual finalist in a tie-breaker for his second defeat by him in the year. At Wimbledon, Murray progressed to the semi-finals, losing to Nadal in straight sets. On 27 July 2010, Murray and his coach Maclagan split, and Murray replaced him with Àlex Corretja. Starting the US hard-court season with the
2010 Farmers Classic The 2010 Farmers Classic, presented by Mercedes-Benz, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 84th edition of the Los Angeles Open, and was part of the Olympus US Open Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour. It took place at ...
, Murray reached the final but lost against Sam Querrey in three sets. This was his first loss to Querrey in five career meetings. In Canada, Murray became the first player since Andre Agassi in 1995 to defend the Canadian Masters. Murray defeated Nadal and then Federer in straight sets, ending his eight-month title drought. At the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, Murray first complained about the speed of the court, and then in a quarter-final match with Fish, Murray complained that the organisers refused to put the match on later in the day With temperatures reaching 33 °C in the shade, Murray won the first set in a tie-breaker but began to feel ill. The doctor was called on court to actively cool Murray down. Murray said after the match that he had considered retiring. He lost the second set, but forced a final-set tie-breaker, before Fish won. After losing to Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round of the US Open, questions about Murray's conditioning arose, as he called the trainer out twice during the match. His next event was the China Open in Beijing, where Murray reached the quarter-finals, losing to Ivan Ljubičić. Murray then won the
Shanghai Rolex Masters The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
dismissing Roger Federer in straight sets. He did not drop a single set throughout the event. Murray returned to Spain to defend his title at the
Valencia Open 500 The Valencia Open, formerly known as Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, was a professional men's tennis tournament played in Valencia, Spain. It was part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. The tournament was first played in ...
but lost in the second round to Juan Mónaco. However, in doubles, Murray partnered his brother Jamie Murray to the final, where they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi. The victory was Murray's first doubles title and the second time he had reached a final with his brother. Murray reached the quarter-finals at the
BNP Paribas Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association o ...
losing to Gaël Monfils in three sets. Combined with his exit and Söderling's taking the title, Murray found himself pushed down a spot in the rankings, to No. 5 from No. 4. At the Tour finals in London, Murray went 2–1 in round robin play before facing Nadal in the semi-final. They battled for over three hours, before Murray fell to the Spaniard in a final-set tie-breaker, bringing an end to his season. He ended the year ranked #4 for the third consecutive year.


2011: Consistency in slams and two more Masters

Murray and Laura Robson lost in the round-robin stage
2011 Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup XXIII (also known as the Hyundai Hopman Cup for sponsorship reasons) corresponds to the 23rd edition of the Hopman Cup tournament between nations in men's and women's tennis. The tournament commenced on 1 January 2011 at the Burswo ...
, losing all three ties even though Murray won all of his singles matches. Then Murray, along with other stars such as Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, participated in the Rally for Relief event to help raise money for the flood victims in Queensland. Seeded fifth in the
2011 Australian Open The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players wer ...
, Murray met former champion Novak Djokovic in the final and was defeated in straight sets. In Rotterdam, he was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. Murray reached the semi-finals of the doubles tournament with his brother Jamie. Murray lost to qualifiers in the first rounds at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami, after which he split with coach Àlex Corretja. Murray returned to form at the
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, but lost to Nadal in the semi-finals. Murray sustained an elbow injury before the match and subsequently withdrew from the
2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell The 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (also known as the ''Torneo Godó'') was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 59th edition of the event known this year as the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, and was part of the ATP W ...
due to the injury. Murray lost in the third round at the
Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...
, but made it to the semi-finals of the Rome Masters, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Murray won two tough early matches, before losing in his first semi-final at Roland Garros, against Rafael Nadal. Murray defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win his second Queen's Club title. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Murray lost in the semi-final to Nadal, despite taking the first set. At the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Luxembourg, Murray led the British team to victory. Murray was the two-time defending
2011 Rogers Cup The 2011 Canada Masters (also known as the 2011 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank and the 2011 Rogers Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 122nd edition of the Canada Masters ...
champion, but lost in the second round to South African Kevin Anderson. However, the following week, he won the
2011 Western & Southern Open The 2011 Western & Southern Open, also known as the Cincinnati Open, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, United States. The tournament was a joint men's and women's event, with s ...
after Novak Djokovic retired due to injury. At the 2011 US Open, Murray battled from two sets down to win a five-set second-round encounter with Robin Haase, but lost in the semi-finals to Rafael Nadal in four sets. This was the first time in his career that Andy had reached the quarter-finals, or better, at all four slams in a calendar year. Murray easily won the small 250-class Thailand Open, and the following week he won his third title in four tournaments at the
Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships The Japan Open (currently sponsored by Rakuten) is a men's tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally founded in 1915 as the Japan International Cha ...
. His opponent in the final was Rafael Nadal, whom he beat for the first time in the year in three sets. Murray then won the doubles with his brother Jamie Murray, becoming the first person in the 2011 season to capture both singles and doubles titles at the same tournament. Murray then successfully defended his Shanghai Masters crown with a straight-sets victory over David Ferrer in the final. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Murray lost to David Ferrer in straight sets and withdrew from the tournament after the loss with a groin pull. Murray ended the year ranked #4, behind Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer, for the fourth consecutive year.


2012: Olympic Gold, US Open champion, and Wimbledon runner-up

With Ivan Lendl as his new full-time coach, Murray began the season by playing in the
2012 Brisbane International The 2012 Brisbane International was a joint 2012 ATP World Tour and 2012 WTA Tour tennis tournament, played on outdoor hard courts in Brisbane, Queensland. Because of its ongoing success, the WTA decided in 2011 to upgrade the event to a Premie ...
. He overcame a slow start in his first two matches to win his 22nd title by beating
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
in the final. In doubles, he lost in the quarter-finals against second seeds Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in a tight match. After an exhibition tournament, Murray made it to the semi-finals of the
2012 Australian Open The 2012 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 16 to 29 January 2012. It was the 100th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. The tournamen ...
, where he was defeated by Djokovic in a four-hour-and 50-minute match. At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Murray defeated Djokovic in the semi-finals, but lost in the final to Roger Federer. After an early defeat at the
BNP Paribas Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, Murray made the final of the Miami Masters, losing to Djokovic. Murray then had quarter-final losses at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open, and a third round loss at the
Italian Open Italian Open may refer to: *Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year. *Italian Open (golf) The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
. Murray battled back spasms throughout the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, and in the quarter-finals, he was beaten by David Ferrer. Murray lost in the opening round of the Queen's Club Championships to No. 65 Nicolas Mahut. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Murray set the then record for the latest finish at the championships when he completed a four-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis at 23:02 BST, which was eclipsed by the 2018 Wimbledon men's singles semi-finals which saw play being completed at 23:03 BST. Murray beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-final in four sets to become the first male British player to reach the final of Wimbledon since
Bunny Austin Henry Wilfred "Bunny" Austin (26 August 1906 – 26 August 2000) was an English tennis player. For 74 years he was the last Briton to reach the final of the men's singles at Wimbledon, until Andy Murray did so in 2012. He was also a finalist ...
in 1938. In the final, he faced Federer, but after taking the first set, he lost the match in four sets. Murray returned to Wimbledon within weeks, this time to compete in the
London 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. He partnered his brother Jamie Murray in doubles and suffered a first-round exit to Austria (Jürgen Melzer and
Alexander Peya Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013. In September 2008 Peya h ...
) in three sets. In the mixed doubles, Murray was partnered by Laura Robson. They made it all the way to the finals where they lost to the
Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...
top seeds ( Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi) in three sets, settling for the silver medal. In singles, Murray lost only one set on his way to the finals where he met Federer, defeating him in straight sets, for the loss of just 7 games. By winning the Olympic gold medal, Murray became the first British man to win the Olympic singles gold medal in tennis since Josiah Ritchie in 1908, and only the 7th man in the open era to win two medals at the same Olympic Games. Murray retired early in the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
due to a knee injury, and was beaten by unseeded Jérémy Chardy at the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
in straight sets. He next competed in the final major of the season at the US Open. He cruised through his opening two rounds in straight sets against
Alex Bogomolov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bogomolov Jr. (russian: Александр Александрович «Алекс» Богомолов; born April 23, 1983), nicknamed Bogie, is a Russian-American retired professional tennis player. Tennis caree ...
and Ivan Dodig, before facing a tough four-set battle with Feliciano López, where Murray had to win three tie-breakers. In the fourth round, he defeated the Canadian Milos Raonic in straight sets, and then in the quarter-finals, had to come from a set and two breaks down against Marin Čilić to prevail in four. In the semi-finals, he defeated Tomáš Berdych in a long-fought match that lasted almost four hours, to reach his second consecutive Grand Slam final. Murray defeated Djokovic in five sets, becoming the first British man to win a Grand Slam final since Fred Perry in 1936, and the first Scottish-born player to win a Grand Slam final since Harold Mahony in 1896. The win would also set several records for Murray: it involved the longest tiebreak in US Open final history at 12–10 in the first set, it made Murray the first man ever to win an Olympic gold medal and the US Open in the same year, and it tied with the 1988 US Open final (in which Murray's coach Lendl competed) as the longest final in the tournament's history. By defeating Djokovic in the final, Murray achieved his 100th Grand Slam match win of his career. The victory made Murray part of the "
Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...
" according to many pundits and contemporaries, including Novak Djokovic. In his first tournament after the US Open, Murray reached the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open after entering as defending champion. He was beaten by Milos Raonic in a close three-set match. He was defending champion in the doubles with his brother Jamie. However, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by top seeds Leander Paes and Radek Štěpánek. At the penultimate Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Shanghai, after receiving a bye into round two, Murray's first match was due to be played against Florian Mayer. However, Mayer had to pull out due to injury, giving Murray a walkover into round three. After beating Alexandr Dolgopolov in the third round, he then overcame Radek Štěpánek in a three-set quarter-final. Murray next faced Roger Federer in the semi-finals, whom he defeated in straight sets to set up a second consecutive final against Djokovic, and his third consecutive Shanghai final. After failing to capitalise on five match points, Murray eventually lost in three sets, bringing to an end his 12–0 winning streak at the competition. When Nadal pulled out of both the Paris Masters and the year-end championships, Murray finished the year at No. 3, after four years at No. 4. This was the first time Murray had finished the year higher than No. 4. At the '' BBC Sports Personality of the Year'' Murray found himself voted third overall, ahead of Mo Farah. Murray won the World Breakthrough of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards. Murray was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the
2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...
for services to tennis.


2013: Wimbledon champion and back surgery

Murray began his 2013 season by retaining his
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
title, defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the final in straight sets. Trying to win his second major in a row, he began the
2013 Australian Open The 2013 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 to 27 January 2013. It was the 101st edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. The tournament ...
well with a straight sets victory over Dutchman Robin Haase. He followed this up with straight set victories over João Sousa, practice partner Ričardas Berankis and French No. 14 seed Gilles Simon. In the quarter-finals he cruised past Jérémy Chardy in straight sets to set up a semi-final clash with Roger Federer. After exchanging sets, Murray eventually prevailed in 5 sets, recording his first Grand Slam tournament triumph over Federer. With this victory, each member of the ATP's most dominant quartet of the previous four years (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) had beaten the other three at the majors. This victory set up Murray's third consecutive major final appearance, and second in a row against Djokovic. After taking the first set in a tiebreak, Murray was eventually defeated in four sets. His defeat in this final meant that Murray became only the second man in the Open Era to achieve three runner-up finishes at the Australian Open, the other being
Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 ...
. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Murray lost at the quarter-final stage to Juan Martín del Potro in three sets. At the Miami Masters, Murray made it through his first four matches without dropping a set, and after overcoming Richard Gasquet in the semi-finals, faced David Ferrer in the final. After losing the first set, and facing match point in the decider at 5–6, Murray eventually took the match in a third-set tiebreaker to win his second Miami Masters title, and leapfrog Roger Federer into second place in the rankings, ending a near-decade long time period in which either Federer or Rafael Nadal were ranked in the top two. Murray briefly fell back to No. 3, following a third round defeat by Stanislas Wawrinka in
Monte-Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
, but reclaimed the No. 2 ranking as a result of Federer failing to defend his title at the
Mutua Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...
. Later, Murray lost at the quarter-final stage to Tomáš Berdych in straight sets. At the Rome Masters, Murray retired due to a hip injury during his second round match against
Marcel Granollers Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
on his 26th birthday. Murray had just battled back to tie the match at one set all after winning the second set on a tiebreak. This left Murray with only eleven days to be fit for the start of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. Speaking at a press conference after the match, Murray said, "As it is, I'd be very surprised if I was playing in Paris. I need to make a plan as to what I do. I'll chat with the guys tonight and make a plan for the next few days then make a decision on Paris after the next five days." He would go on to withdraw from Roland Garros later, citing a back injury. After a four-week break due to injury, Murray made his comeback at the
2013 Aegon Championships The 2013 Aegon Championships (also known traditionally as the ''Queen's Club Championships'') was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 111th edition of those championships and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 ser ...
, where he was the top seed. After a rain delayed first day, Murray had to complete his second round match against Nicolas Mahut, and his subsequent match against Marinko Matosevic on the same day, both of which he won in straight sets. After beating Benjamin Becker in the quarter-finals, Murray next faced his first top ten opponent since losing to Tomáš Berdych in Madrid, taking on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals. After dropping the first set against the Frenchman, Murray eventually raised his level and won in three to set up a final against Marin Čilić of Croatia, his third consecutive final on grass courts. He came from behind again to beat Čilić in three sets to claim his third title at
Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship reas ...
. Going into Wimbledon, Murray had not lost a match on grass since the previous year's final, and was on a winning streak of 11 matches on grass. In the first two rounds, Murray faced Benjamin Becker and Yen-hsun Lu respectively, defeating both in straight sets. His third round match was against 32nd seed Tommy Robredo, and despite a tour comeback over the past year, Murray overcame the Spaniard in straight sets to set up a clash with Mikhail Youzhny, the highest seed left in Murray's half following the unexpectedly early exits of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Despite facing a fightback in the second set, Murray won in straight sets to make it through to his tenth consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, in which he was to play Fernando Verdasco, the first left-handed player Murray had faced since the 2012 US Open. For the seventh time in his career, Murray had to come back from a deficit of two sets to ultimately come through in five, setting up a semi-final clash with 24th seed
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
, the Polish player who beat Murray in their previous encounter. After Murray failed to break Janowicz's serve, the Pole took the opening set in the tiebreak, following a double fault from Murray. However, Murray managed to up his level of play, and won the next three sets, making it through to his second consecutive Wimbledon final, and third consecutive major final against Novak Djokovic. Despite the Serb being the favourite to win the title throughout the Championships, Murray overcame Djokovic in a straight sets match that lasted over three hours, to become the first British winner of the men's singles title since Fred Perry in 1936, the first Scot of either sex to win a Wimbledon singles title since Harold Mahony in 1896, and to extend his winning streak on grass to 18 matches. At the US Open, Murray entered a Grand Slam tournament as defending champion for the first time and started strongly with a straight sets win against
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
. He backed this up with wins over Leonardo Mayer, Florian Mayer and Denis Istomin to reach the quarter-finals at a major for the 11th straight tournament. In the last 8, Murray faced Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, but lost in straight sets, ending Murray's streak of four consecutive major finals. Following his disappointing run of form on hard courts, Murray next joined the Great Britain Davis Cup team in their World Group Play-off tie on clay against Croatia, where he played in two singles and the doubles rubbers. After defeating 16-year-old Borna Ćorić in straight sets, Murray teamed up with Colin Fleming to defeat Croatian number 1 Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavić in the doubles, and take a 2–1 lead in the tie. Murray then sealed Britain's return to the World Group by defeating Dodig in straight sets. Following the Davis Cup, Murray's season was cut short by his decision to undergo surgery, in order to sort out the lower back problems that had caused him problems since the early stages of the previous season. After being forced to withdraw from the French Open in May, the injury flared up again during the US Open and later during the Davis Cup World Group Play-offs, Murray made the decision that surgery was the best way to sort the problem out for the long-term. Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, Murray was voted the 2013 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, after having been heavy favourite since the nominees were announced.


2014: 30th career title and out of top 10

Murray started his season at the Qatar Open in Doha. In the first round, he defeated Mousa Shanan Zayed in straight sets in 37 minutes without dropping a single game, but was defeated in three sets by No. 40 Florian Mayer in the second round, despite being a set and a break up three games into the second set. He then played a warm-up match at the
2014 AAMI Classic The 2014 AAMI Classic took place between 8–11 January 2014, at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Lleyton Hewitt was going to play, but was replaced by Jordan Thompson after winning the 2014 Brisbane International. In the final i ...
in Kooyong against No. 43 Lleyton Hewitt, losing in two close tiebreaks. He next headed to Melbourne for the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, where he drew the No. 112,
Go Soeda is a former professional Japanese tennis player. He started playing tennis at the age of four and turned professional in April 2003. He has won 18 singles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of w ...
of Japan. Despite worries that he was not match-fit, Murray got off to a strong start, dispatching the Japanese number 2 in under 90 minutes, losing just 5 games in the process. He next went on to defeat
Vincent Millot Vincent Millot (; born 30 January 1986, in Montpellier, France) is a French former professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players eac ...
and Feliciano López respectively in straight sets. In the fourth round, Murray dropped his first set of the tournament on his way to beating
Stephane Robert Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: * Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer *Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé f ...
in four sets to set up a meeting with long-standing rival Roger Federer in the quarter-finals. Despite saving two match points to take the third set, he ultimately went out in four, ending his streak of four consecutive Australian Open semi-finals. As a result of losing before the final, Murray fell to No. 6, falling out of the top 5 for the first time since 2008. He next headed to the United States to compete in the Davis Cup World Group first round with Great Britain, who went into the tie as outsiders. Murray won both of his ties against Donald Young and Sam Querrey respectively, helping Britain to their first Davis Cup quarter-final since 1986. Murray's next tournament was the Rotterdam Open after receiving a late wild card, however he lost to Marin Čilić in straight sets in the quarter-finals. His following competition, the Mexican Open in Acapulco, ended in a semi-final defeat by Grigor Dimitrov in a thrilling three-setter that required two tiebreakers to decide the final two sets. At Indian Wells, Murray struggled in his first two matches against Lukáš Rosol and
Jiří Veselý Jiří Veselý (; born 10 July 1993) is a Czech professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 35 on 27 April 2015. He is currently the No. 2 Czech tennis player in singles, as he lost his previous ...
respectively, overcoming both in close three-set encounters to set up a fourth round clash with Canadian Milos Raonic, which he lost in three sets. Murray offered to play with 2012 Wimbledon Doubles champion Jonathan Marray, because Marray was unable to convince anyone to join him on court. For Murray's and Marray's first competitive match together, they won a doubles clash against Gaël Monfils and Juan Mónaco only to lose in the
second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
to the No 2 seeds
Alexander Peya Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013. In September 2008 Peya h ...
and Bruno Soares. In March, Murray split with coach Ivan Lendl, who had been widely praised for helping Murray achieve his goal of winning Grand Slam titles. At the
2014 Miami Masters The 2014 Sony Open Tennis (also known as 2014 Miami Masters) was a professional men and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 30th edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the Masters 1000 category on the 2014 A ...
, Murray defeated
Matthew Ebden Matthew Ebden (born 26 November 1987) is an Australian professional tennis player. He is a two-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles, 2022 Wimbledon Championships in men's ...
, Feliciano López and Jo Wilfried Tsonga but lost to Djokovic in the quarter-finals. In the Davis Cup quarter-finals against Italy, he beat Andreas Seppi in his first rubber, then teamed up with Colin Fleming to win the doubles rubber. Murray had only beaten one top ten player on clay, Nikolay Davydenko, back in 2009, and so in his final singles match, was stunned by Fabio Fognini in straight sets, which took Great Britain to the deciding final rubber. However, in this match his compatriot,
James Ward James Ward may refer to: Military *James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1864) (1833–?), American Civil War sailor * James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890) (1854–1901), American Indian Wars soldier *James Allen Ward (1919–1941), New Zealand pilot and Vi ...
was defeated by Andreas Seppi, also in straight sets, knocking Murray and Great Britain out of the Davis Cup. Murray next competed at the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf), a men's golf tournament played from 1968 to 2007, except 1994–2000 * WTA Madrid Open (tennis), a women's tennis event played from 1996 to 2003 * Madrid Open (tennis) ...
and following his opening win, over Nicolas Almagro, he dedicated the victory to former player Elena Baltacha. He then lost to qualifier Santiago Giraldo in the following round. Murray then reached the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters where he lost to No. 1 Rafael Nadal in a tight match in which he had been up a break in the final set. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Murray defeated Andrey Golubev and Marinko Matosevic before edging out 28th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 12–10 in the final set. This was the first time Murray had ever gone beyond 7–5 in a deciding set. He followed this up with a straight sets win over Fernando Verdasco and then recorded a five set victory over Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the quarter-final, which saw Murray rise to No. 5 and equal his best ever
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
by reaching the semi-finals. However, he subsequently lost to Nadal in straight sets, winning only 6 games in the match. After losing the 2014 French Open semi-finals to Nadal, Murray appointed former women's world No. 1, and two-times slam titlist, Amélie Mauresmo as his coach in a 'historic move' which made Mauresmo the first woman to coach a top male tennis player.'Andy Murray appoints Amélie Mauresmo as his new coach'
'' The Guardian'' (London), 8 June 2014.
After strong grass court seasons in 2012 and 2013, Murray was seeded third for the 2014 Wimbledon Championship, behind Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who were seeded first and second respectively. He began his title defence with straight sets wins over David Goffin and Blaž Rola, defeating the latter for the loss of just two games. Murray continued his good form, defeating Roberto Bautista Agut and Kevin Anderson, the 27th and 20th seeds, again in straight sets to reach his seventh consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final. Murray's defence then came to a halt as Grigor Dimitrov ended his 17 match winning-streak on the grass of Wimbledon (this includes the 2012 Olympics) with a straight sets win, meaning Murray failed to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2008. After his defeat at the Championships, Murray dropped to No. 10, his lowest ranking since 2008. Before the North American hard court swing, Murray announced he was extending his partnership with Amélie Mauresmo until the end of the US Open, but was ideally looking for a long-term deal. He also revealed he had only just returned to a full training schedule following his back surgery last September. Murray reached back-to-back quarter-finals at the Canadian Open and
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, losing to eventual champions Jo Wilfried Tsonga, after being a break up in the decider, and Roger Federer, after being two breaks up in the second set, respectively. He made it to the quarter-finals of the 2014 US Open, losing to Novak Djokovic, after earning his first top ten win of the year in the previous round against Jo Wilfried Tsonga. This was the first season since 2009 where Murray failed to reach a grand slam final. As a consequence Murray fell outside of the top 10 ranking places for the first time since June 2008. Murray took a wildcard into the inaugural Shenzhen Open in China, entering as the number 2 seed. Victories over Somdev Devvarman, Lukáš Lacko and Juan Mónaco saw Murray reach his first final of the season, breaking a drought of 14 months following his title at Wimbledon. In the final, he faced Tommy Robredo of Spain, the second final between the two. After saving five championship points in the second set tie break, Murray went on to win the title in three sets, Robredo's drop in fitness ultimately proving decisive. He then took his good form into Beijing, where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Djokovic in straight sets, however he lost in the third round at the Shanghai Masters to David Ferrer despite being a set up. Following his early exit in Shanghai, Murray took a wildcard into the Vienna Open in an attempt to claim a place at the ATP World Tour Finals. He reached the final, where he once again faced Ferrer, and triumphed in three sets for his second title of the season, and the 30th of his career. Murray defeated Ferrer again in the semi-finals of the Valencia Open to move into his third final in five weeks, and further strengthen his bid for a place at the season finale in London. In a repeat of the Shenzhen Open final, Murray again saved five championship points as he overcame Tommy Robredo in three sets. Murray then went on to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters, where he was eliminated by Djokovic in what was his 23rd match in the space of only 37 days. However, his win over Dimitrov in the third round had already guaranteed him a spot at the ATP World Tour Finals. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Murray lost his opening round robin match to Kei Nishikori but won his second match against Milos Raonic. However, he lost his final group match against Federer in straight sets and only managed to win one game against him, marking his worst defeat since losing to Djokovic in the
2007 Miami Masters The 2007 Sony Ericsson Open was the 23rd edition of this tennis tournament and was played on outdoor hardcourts. The tournament was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2007 ATP Tour and was classified as a Tier I event on the 2007 WTA Tour. T ...
, eliminating him from the tournament. Following the conclusion of the season, Murray mutually agreed on a split with long-term backroom staff, training partner
Dani Vallverdu Dani may refer to: People * Dani people, a people living in the central highlands of West Papua * Dani (surname), a surname * Danes (Germanic tribe), a tribe in southern Scandinavia * Dani (footballer, born 1951) (Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa), Span ...
and fitness coach Jez Green. They had been with him for five and seven years respectively but were both reported to have been unhappy at the lack of consultation they had been given about the appointment of Mauresmo. Murray also took part in the inaugural season of the
International Premier Tennis League The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL, officially the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League Presented by Qatar Airways pursuant to sponsorship agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and Qatar Airways) was an annual team tennis leagu ...
, representing the
Manila Mavericks The Philippine Mavericks, initially known as the Manila Mavericks, were a tennis team based in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines that competed in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). It is one of four charter franchises participating in ...
, who had drafted him as an icon player in February. Murray took part in the first three matches of the tournament which were all played in Manila.


2015: Davis Cup champion and return to world No. 2

Murray began his year by winning an
exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
event in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...
. He then played the Hopman Cup with
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri K ...
and, despite winning all his singles matches in straight sets, they finished second in their group behind Poland. His first competitive tournament of the year was the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. He won his opening three matches in straight sets before defeating 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarter-final. Wins over
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
and Tomáš Berdych followed as Murray reached his fourth final at the tournament (three of which were against Djokovic) and the eighth grand slam final of his career. He lost the final to Novak Djokovic in four sets, however his run to the final saw his return to the top four in the world rankings for the first time in 12 months. Murray next participated in the Rotterdam Open as the top seed, but he lost in the quarter-finals to Gilles Simon who ended a 12 match losing streak against Murray. Murray then played in the Dubai Championships but suffered another quarter-final defeat to 18-year-old Borna Ćorić and as a result, Murray slipped to No. 5 behind Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori. Afterwards, Murray played the Davis Cup World Group in Glasgow against the United States. He won both his matches against Donald Young and John Isner, allowing Great Britain to progress to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive time with a 3–2 lead over the United States. Murray then reached the semi-finals of the 2015 Indian Wells, overtaking Tim Henman's record of 496 career wins to have the most career wins for a British man in the Open Era. However, he suffered a 6th consecutive defeat to Djokovic in straight sets. Murray then reached the final of the
2015 Miami Open The 2015 Miami Open presented by Itaú (also known as 2015 Miami Masters) was a professional men and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 31st edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the Masters 1000 category ...
, recording his 500th career win along the way to become the first British player to have 500 or more wins in the Open Era. He went on to lose the final to Djokovic, this time in three sets. Murray added
Jonas Björkman Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
to his coaching staff in March initially on a five-week trial to help out in periods when Mauresmo was unavailable as she only agreed to work with him for 25 weeks. However, at the end of the Australian Open, Mauresmo had informed Murray that she was pregnant and he announced at the end of April, that Björkman would be his main coach for all of the grass court season and all of the US hard court swing, while Mauresmo would only be with the team for Wimbledon. Murray won his first ATP clay court title at the
2015 BMW Open The 2015 BMW Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 100th edition of the event, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2015 ATP World Tour. It took place at the MTTC Iphitos complex in Munich, Germ ...
. He defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber in three close sets to become the first Briton since Buster Mottram in 1976 to win a tour level clay court event. The following week he reached his second final on clay, at the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf), a men's golf tournament played from 1968 to 2007, except 1994–2000 * WTA Madrid Open (tennis), a women's tennis event played from 1996 to 2003 * Madrid Open (tennis) ...
after recording only his second and third victories over top 10 opposition on clay, against Raonic and Nishikori. In the final, he defeated Rafael Nadal in straight sets for his first Madrid title on clay, and first ever clay court Masters 1000 title. The win was Murray's first over Nadal, Federer or Djokovic since Wimbledon 2013, and his first over Nadal on a clay court. Murray continued his winning streak at the
Italian Open Italian Open may refer to: *Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year. *Italian Open (golf) The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
, beating Jeremy Chardy in straight sets in his opening match, but then withdrew due to fatigue after having played nine matches in the space of 10 days. Murray then reached his third semi-final at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, but lost to Djokovic in five sets after threatening a comeback from two sets to love down, ending his 15 match winning streak on clay. To start his grass court campaign, Murray went on to win a record-tying fourth Queen's Club title, defeating the big serving South African Kevin Anderson in straight sets in the final. At the third grand slam of the year, the
2015 Wimbledon Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
, Murray dropped only two sets on his way to setting up a semi-final clash with Roger Federer. Murray lost to the Swiss veteran in straight sets, gaining only one break point in the entire match. After Wimbledon, Murray returned to Queen's Club, to play for Great Britain against France in their Davis Cup quarter-final tie. Great Britain went 1–0 down when James Ward lost to Gilles Simon in straight sets, however Murray levelled the tie with a victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Murray then teamed up with his brother Jamie to win the doubles rubber, coming back from a set down to defeat Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut in four sets, giving Britain a crucial 2–1 lead going into the final day. He then faced Simon in the fourth rubber and after initially being a set and a break down, he suddenly found his form again towards the end of the second set and eventually won in four sets, winning 12 of the last 15 games in the process (with Simon struggling from an ankle injury). With a 3–1 lead over France, this resulted in Great Britain reaching their first Davis Cup semi-final since 1981. Murray next participated at the
Citi Open The Washington Open (known as the Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 50 ...
(for the first time since
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
), as the top seed and favourite to win the tournament. However, he suffered a defeat in his first match, losing to No. 53
Teymuraz Gabashvili Teymuraz Besikovich Gabashvili ( rus, Теймураз Бесикович Габашвили, , tɛɪ̯mʊˈraz ɡəbɐˈʂvʲilʲɪ; born 23 May 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 4 ...
in a final set tiebreak, despite serving for the match. In doubles, he partnered
Daniel Nestor Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal ...
, however they lost in the first round to the fourth seeds, Rohan Bopanna and
Florin Mergea Florin Mergea (; born 26 January 1985) is a Romanian tennis player and a doubles specialist. He has reached the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in 2015 and won an ATP Masters title at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier that year. He achieved a c ...
, also in three sets. He bounced back from this defeat by winning the Montreal Masters Rogers Cup, defeating Tsonga and Nishikori in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively. He then prevailed in the final against Djokovic in three sets. This broke his eight-match, two-year losing streak against Djokovic (his last win against him being in the final of Wimbledon in 2013). In winning the title he also surpassed Federer in terms of ranking, becoming the world No. 2 for the first time in over two years. In doubles, he partnered Leander Paes and they won their first match against Chardy and Anderson, but were then defeated by Murray's brother Jamie and
John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
in two sets – the first time the Murray brothers had competed against each other in a Tour-level match, a situation which Andy described as "awkward" and Jamie as "a bit weird". In the second Master Series tournament of the US Hard Court season, the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, Murray defeated veteran Mardy Fish in the second round, and then beat both Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet in three-set matches, having to come from a set down on both occasions, while Dimitrov had served for the match in the deciding set. In the semi-final, he lost to defending champion Roger Federer in straight sets, and after Federer went on to win the tournament, this result saw Murray return to the No. 3 ranking and seeding for the US Open. At the US Open, Murray beat Nick Kyrgios in four sets before beating Adrian Mannarino in five sets after being two sets down, equaling Federer for winning eight matches from two sets to love down. He then beat Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets but suffered a defeat in the fourth round to Kevin Anderson in four sets. This ended Murray's five-year run of 18 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals (not counting his withdrawal from the
2013 French Open The 2013 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 117th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 26 May to 9 June. It consisted of e ...
) since his third round loss to Stan Wawrinka in the 2010 US Open. Playing against Australia in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup World Group in Glasgow, Murray won both his singles rubbers in straight sets, against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic. He also partnered his brother Jamie, and they won in five sets against the pairing of Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt, the results guiding Great Britain to the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1978 with a 3–2 lead over Australia. After losing in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters to Djokovic in straight sets, Murray reached the finals of the Paris Masters for the loss of just one set, with victories against Borna Ćorić, David Goffin and David Ferrer. After a three set win over Richard Gasquet, he joined Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the only players to reach the semi-finals (or better) at all nine of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also ensured that he compiled his best match record in a single season. He then lost the final to Djokovic again in straight sets. As the world No. 2, Murray participated in the ATP World Tour Finals in London, and was drawn into the Ilie Năstase group with David Ferrer, Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka. He went out in the round-robin stage, after defeating Ferrer and losing to Nadal and Wawrinka. However, after Federer failed to win the tournament, he finished the season ranked No. 2 for the first time. In the Davis Cup final, Murray's victory over Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets pulled Great Britain level in the final after Kyle Edmund had lost the first singles rubber in five sets, played on indoor clay courts at Ghent. He then partnered his brother Jamie in a four-set victory over the pairing of Steve Darcis and David Goffin, before defeating Goffin again in the reverse singles on Sunday, thus ensuring a 3–1 victory for Great Britain, their first Davis Cup title since
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
and their tenth overall. Murray also became only the third person since the current Davis Cup format was introduced to win all eight of his singles rubbers in a Davis Cup season, after John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.


2016: Second Wimbledon and Olympic Gold, and ascent to world No. 1

Murray began his 2016 season by playing in the Hopman Cup, pairing up with Heather Watson again. However, they finished second in their group after losing their tie to eventual champions Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova from Australia. Murray played his first competitive tournament of 2016 at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
where he was aiming to win his first title there after four runner-up finishes. He went on to reach his fifth
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
final with victories over
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
, Sam Groth, João Sousa, Bernard Tomic, David Ferrer and Milos Raonic, dropping four sets along the way. However, in a rematch of the previous year final, he was unable to win his first title as he lost in the final to an in-form Novak Djokovic (who won a record-equalling sixth title) in straight sets. He became the second man in the Open Era (after Ivan Lendl) to lose five Grand Slam finals at one event, and the only one not to have won the title. Subsequently, in February, Murray appointed
Jamie Delgado Jamie Delgado (born 21 March 1977) is a British tennis coach and former professional player. Delgado has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, most recently in 2006. Delgado holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimb ...
as an assistant coach. Murray then played at
2016 Davis Cup The 2016 Davis Cup was the 105th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men's tennis. It was sponsored by BNP Paribas. From this season's tournament the deciding set of each match would be settled by a tiebreak at 6 games ...
defeating Taro Daniel in straight sets and Kei Nishikori in five sets. Murray then competed at the first Masters 1000 of the year at the
2016 Indian Wells Masters The 2016 BNP Paribas Open (also known as the 2016 Indian Wells Masters) was a professional tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2016. It was the 43rd edition of the men's event and 28th of the women's event, and was class ...
. He defeated
Marcel Granollers Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
in the second round in straight sets but had an early loss to
Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 33 achieved on 9 May 2016. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 achieved on 22 July 2019. Pro ...
in the third round. Murray then played at the
2016 Miami Open The 2016 Miami Open presented by Itaú (also known as 2016 Miami Masters) was a professional men and women's tennis tournament being played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 32nd edition of the Miami Open, and was part of the Masters 1000 cate ...
as the 2nd seed. He defeated Denis Istomin in the second round in straight sets but had another early loss, to 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov, despite taking the first set. Murray began his clay court season at the
2016 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters The 2016 Monte-Carlo Masters was a tennis tournament for male professional players, played from 10 April through 17 April 2016, on outdoor clay courts. It was the 110th edition of the annual Monte Carlo Masters tournament, sponsored by Rolex for ...
as the 2nd seed. Murray struggled in his second round match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert but Murray came through in 3 sets. Murray struggled again in his third round match against 16th seed
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
as Murray was down a set and two breaks. Paire also served for the match in the third set but Murray still came through in 3 sets. Murray then defeated 10th seed Milos Raonic in straight sets in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Murray lost to 5th seed and eventual champion Rafael Nadal despite winning the first set. Murray then played at the
2016 Mutua Madrid Open The 2016 Mutua Madrid Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from 30 April to 8 May 2016. It was the 15th edition of the event on the ATP World Tour and 8th on the WTA To ...
as the 2nd seed and the defending champion. Murray defeated qualifier Radek Štěpánek in three sets. He then proceeded to the semi-finals after defeating 16th seed Gilles Simon and 8th seed Tomáš Berdych both in straight sets. In the semi-finals, Murray defeated Nadal in straight sets who Murray had lost to earlier in the year. In the final Murray lost to number 1 seed Novak Djokovic in three sets. This loss dropped Murray from second to third in the ATP rankings. Shortly afterwards Mauresmo and Murray issued a joint statement announcing that they had "mutually agreed" to end their coaching partnership. Murray regained his number two ranking after he won the
2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia The 2016 Italian Open (also known as the 2016 Rome Masters and sponsored title 2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 73rd edition of the Italian Ope ...
for his 1st title of the season and 36th overall. He defeated Mikhail Kukushkin, Jérémy Chardy, 12th seed David Goffin,
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
, and number 1 seed Djokovic all in straight sets. This was his first win over Djokovic on clay and became the first British player since Virginia Wade in 1971 to win the title and the first British man since
George Patrick Hughes George Patrick Hughes (21 December 1902 – 8 May 1997) was an English tennis player. Hughes and Fred Perry won the doubles at the French Championships in 1933 and at the Australian Championships in 1934. Hughes later teamed up with Raymond T ...
in 1931. Murray then moved on to the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
where he struggled in the opening rounds coming through two five-set matches against Štěpánek and French wildcard
Mathias Bourgue Mathias Bourgue (; born 18 January 1994) is a French tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 140 achieved on 24 April 2017. Career He received a wildcard to advance to the singles main dra ...
. He came through in straight sets against big servers Ivo Karlović and John Isner to reach the quarter-finals where he beat home favourite Richard Gasquet in four sets to set up a semi-final clash against defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka. Murray defeated Wawrinka in four sets to become the first male British player since Bunny Austin in 1937, to reach a French Open final. He was unable to win his maiden French Open final, losing to Djokovic in four sets. In June 2016, Ivan Lendl agreed to return to his former role as Murray's coach. Murray started his grass season at the
2016 Aegon Championships The 2016 Aegon Championships, also known as the Queen's Club Championships, was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 114th edition of those championships and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2016 ATP W ...
as the 1st seed and the defending champion. Murray defeated Nicolas Mahut in straight sets despite facing a set point in the first set and three set points in the second set. He then defeated his countryman Aljaž Bedene in straight sets. He then had three set wins over Kyle Edmund, another countryman, and No. 5 seed Marin Čilić. In the final he was down a set and a break to 3rd seed Milos Raonic. Murray still managed to come back and win a record 5th Queen's Club Championships and it was also his 2nd title in 2016. Murray then played at the third major of the year at the
2016 Wimbledon Championships The 2016 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main draw commenced on 27 June 2016 and concluded on ...
as the 2nd seed. Murray had straight set wins over Liam Broady, Lu Yen-hsun, John Millman, and Nick Kyrgios in the first four rounds. Murray then defeated 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets in the quarter-final and 10th seed Tomáš Berdych in straight sets to reach his third straight major final. In the final on 10 July, Murray defeated Raonic in straight sets to win his second
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
title and third major title overall. His Wimbledon crown was his 3rd title of the season and 38th career Tour title. Murray next played at the Rio Olympic Games. He became the first player, male or female, to win two consecutive gold medals in the tennis singles events by defeating Juan Martín del Potro in the final, which lasted over four hours. The win was his 3rd consecutive title and 4th title of the season. Murray then entered the US Open and beat Lukas Rosol, Marcel Granollers, Paolo Lorenzi and Grigor Dimitrov in the first four rounds. However, his run came to an end when he lost to sixth seed Kei Nishikori in five sets despite holding a two sets to one lead. His next activity was the 2016 Davis Cup semi-final in Glasgow against Argentina. He lost the opening rubber against Juan Martín del Potro in five sets. After Great Britain lost the second rubber as well, he teamed up with his brother Jamie to beat del Potro and Leonardo Mayer in the third rubber in four sets. He then won the fourth rubber against Guido Pella in straight sets, though Great Britain eventually lost the tie. Murray then won the China Open for his fifth title of 2016 and 40th career tour title. He defeated Andreas Seppi, Andrey Kuznetsov, Kyle Edmund, David Ferrer, and Grigor Dimitrov all in straight sets. Murray then backed this up with a tournament win at the
Shanghai Rolex Masters The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
defeating Steve Johnson,
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
, David Goffin, Gilles Simon, and Roberto Bautista Agut all in straight sets to capture his 13th masters title and 3rd title in Shanghai. This marked his 6th title of 2016 and drew him even with former No. 1 Stefan Edberg at No. 15 on the Open Era titles list with 41 Tour titles each. Murray brought his win streak to 15 consecutive match wins by winning the Erste Bank Open for his seventh tour title of the 2016 season. His tournament started slowly with three-set wins over
Martin Klizan Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...
and Gilles Simon in the first two rounds. However, a decisive win over John Isner in the quarter-final and a walkover due to David Ferrer's withdrawal with a leg injury saw Murray reach the final. There he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, for his third title in succession. The result saw Murray win seven titles in a single season for the first time in his career, and move to solo 15th on the all-time list of singles titles in the Open Era, breaking a tie with former world No. 1
Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 ...
. Murray entered the Paris Masters knowing that in the event of Djokovic not reaching the final, winning the title would be enough to see him crowned world No. 1 for the first time. After reaching the quarter-finals, courtesy of wins over Fernando Verdasco and
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
, Murray faced Berdych for a place in the semi-finals, winning in straight sets. Meanwhile, Djokovic lost to
Marin Cilic Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...
, meaning that Murray would replace Djokovic at the top of the rankings should he reach the final. He was due to face Milos Raonic in the semi-finals. However, Raonic withdrew before the start of the match, giving Murray a walkover. As a result, Murray became the first British man to reach No. 1 since the introduction of the rankings in 1973. Murray then defeated John Isner in the final in 3 sets to win his fourth consecutive tournament and first Paris Masters title. In November 2016, Murray reached the final of the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time before winning against Novak Djokovic in two sets, thus reaching year-end No. 1 and in doing so, becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam, the ATP World Tour Finals, the men's singles at the Olympic Games and a Masters 1000 title in the same calendar year. The International Tennis Federation recognised Murray as their men's 2016 ITF men's world champion, the first time Murray had achieved this honour.


2017: Struggles with form and injury, and hiatus

Murray was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to tennis and charity, making him the UK's youngest knight, at 29. He opened the season with a loss in the semi-finals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship to David Goffin, following which he won against Milos Raonic in the third-place play-off. Murray then reached the final of the Qatar Open, but lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets despite saving three championship points. At the Australian Open he lost in the fourth round against
Mischa Zverev Mikhail "Mischa" Alexandrovich Zverev (russian: Михаил "Миша" Александрович Зверев, , ; born 22 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player born in Russia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world ...
in four sets. Murray returned to action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships event in February. There he won his only tournament of the year, beating Fernando Verdasco in straight sets, despite almost losing in the quarter-finals to Philipp Kohlschreiber where Murray had to save seven match points. The next week, he suffered a shock defeat in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters to
Vasek Pospisil Vasek Pospisil ( ; cs, Vašek Pospíšil, ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high world singles ranking of No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 ...
. After missing a month due to an elbow injury, Murray returned to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters in April, losing out in the third round to
Albert Ramos-Vinolas Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...
. He then competed in Barcelona where he was beaten by Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals. Murray continued to struggle in his next two tournaments, losing to Borna Coric in the third round of Madrid, and to Fabio Fognini in second round of Rome, where he was defending champion. In both of these defeats, he failed to win a set. At the
2017 French Open The 2017 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 121st edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 28 May to 11 June and consisted of ...
, following tough four-set victories over Andrey Kuznetsov and Martin Kližan in the opening rounds, Murray defeated Juan Martín del Potro and Karen Khachanov in straight sets. In the quarter-finals he defeated Kei Nishikori in four sets, but lost in the semi-finals to
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
in five sets. As the five-time champion at Queens, Murray pledged his prize money to the victims of the
Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...
, however he was defeated in straight sets by Jordan Thompson in the first round. Despite concerns over a lingering hip injury, he returned to Wimbledon as the defending champion and progressed to the third round with straight set wins against Alexander Bublik and Dustin Brown. He dropped his first set of the tournament to Fabio Fognini but proceeded to the fourth round in four sets. Murray continued to the quarter final with a straight set victory against Benoit Paire. However, he was defeated in the quarter-final by Sam Querrey in five sets. Murray missed the Canadian Open and the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
due to his hip injury, which led to him losing his No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal. His injury then forced him to withdraw from the 2017 US Open two days before the start of the tournament, making it the first Grand Slam tournament he had missed since the
2013 French Open The 2013 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 117th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 26 May to 9 June. It consisted of e ...
. Murray then withdrew from the Asian hard court swing and said it was "most likely" that he would not play in a professional tournament again in 2017. Ultimately he did indeed not play again, withdrawing from Paris which left him unable to qualify for the
2017 ATP Finals The 2017 ATP Finals (also known as the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, from 12 to 19 November 2017. It was the season-ending event for the highest-r ...
; that November, as a result of his inactivity, his ranking fell sharply to No. 16, his lowest ranking since May 2008. Murray returned to the court to play a charity match against Federer in Glasgow and expressed his hope to return to the tour in Brisbane. The following week, he and Ivan Lendl announced that they had mutually ended their coaching arrangement for a second time.


2018: Hip surgery, out of top 800, and return to tour

Murray withdrew from the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
and
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
due to hip injury. In a post on
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, Murray explained that rehab was one option for recovery. He added that hip surgery was also an option but that the chances of a successful outcome were not as high. On 8 January, Murray announced on Instagram he had undergone hip surgery. In March, Murray lost his British No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2006, to Kyle Edmund. Later that month, Murray said he was making progress after several days of playing at the Mouratoglou Academy in Nice after posting pictures of himself practising against
Aidan McHugh Aidan McHugh (born 9 July 2000) is a British professional tennis player. He has a career high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 298 achieved on 28 February 2022. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking ...
, a British junior player, on Instagram. He then announced he would play his first ATP tournament since hip surgery at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships in June, although he later withdrew saying he was not quite ready and wanted to be 100%. However, he later announced he would make his return at the Queen's Club Championships. He subsequently lost to Nick Kyrgios in the first round in three sets. He was given a wildcard for the Eastbourne International, where he beat Stan Wawrinka in the first round before losing to Kyle Edmund in the second. He withdrew from
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
with a "heavy heart" a day before the tournament, saying it was too soon to play five-set matches. As a result of this withdrawal, he dropped to 839th in the ATP rankings, his newest low ranking since he first entered the ATP rankings on 21 July 2003. He then entered the Washington Open, where he won his first round match against Mackenzie McDonald in three sets. He then faced Kyle Edmund, who had dealt him his last defeat at Eastbourne, overcoming him in three sets. His next match, a dramatic three-set victory over Marius Copil in the third round, lasted until just past 3:00 AM local time; Murray wept after the conclusion of the match, overcome with emotion. He then withdrew from the tournament and the Canadian Open the following week to continue his recovery and to focus on the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
for which he was awarded a wildcard. He eventually lost in the first round to France's
Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...
in three sets. Murray made his grand slam return at the US Open where he defeated the Australian
James Duckworth James or Jim Duckworth may refer to: *Sir James Duckworth (businessman, born 1840) (1840–1915), British businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament * James Duckworth (businessman, born 1869) (1869–1937), British businessman and son of Sir Jame ...
in four sets. However, he was unable to progress further, losing in the second round to Spain's Fernando Verdasco in four sets. Murray then withdrew from Great Britain's Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan in Glasgow to continue his rehabilitation from his injury. He entered the Shenzhen Open as a wildcard. He advanced to the second round after
Zhizhen Zhang Zhang Zhizhen (; ; born 16 October 1996) is a Chinese professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 69 on 8 May 2023, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 211 in September 2017. He has won two ...
retired in the third set of the first round. There, he faced defending champion and top seed David Goffin, who Murray upset in straight sets. He then faced Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals, but was defeated in straight sets. Murray had been due to play at the China Open the following week, but, after suffering a slight ankle problem, he decided to end his season early to ensure he would be fit for the following year.


2019: Second hip surgery, comeback, and first title in two years

Murray travelled to Brisbane early in order to better prepare for the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
. He won his first round match against
James Duckworth James or Jim Duckworth may refer to: *Sir James Duckworth (businessman, born 1840) (1840–1915), British businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament * James Duckworth (businessman, born 1869) (1869–1937), British businessman and son of Sir Jame ...
in straight sets but admitted post-match that he did not know how long he would be able to play top-class tennis. Murray was defeated in the next round by Daniil Medvedev, at that time ranked 16th in the world. On 11 January 2019, at a press conference just before the
2019 Australian Open The 2019 Australian Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 14 to 27 January 2019. It was the 107th edition of the Australian Open, the 51st in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam (te ...
, an emotional Murray announced that he could possibly retire from professional tennis due to struggling physically for a "long time", particularly with his hip injury. He said that he had been suffering with hip pain on a daily basis, and that it caused him to struggle with tasks like putting his shoes and socks on. He spoke of the possibility of a second hip surgery, but expressed doubt this would be a viable option to prolong his career, merely allowing him to "have a better quality of life, and be out of pain". He hoped to make it through to
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, but that the Australian Open could be his final tournament if he was not able to last until the summer, stating: "I'm not sure I can play through the pain for another four or five months". Active and retired tennis players, including Juan Martín del Potro, Kyle Edmund, Bilie Jean King and the other members of the 'Big Four' paid tribute to Murray upon his announcement. Murray entered the singles of the Australian Open, however lost his opening match against 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut in a four-hour, five-set 'epic'. At its conclusion, a video montage of tributes featuring other top players Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Sloane Stephens and Caroline Wozniacki played in deference to his impending retirement. In his post-match interview, he stated that he was considering a second hip surgery, and had not yet ruled out a return to the sport upon recovering from the operation.
Bob Bryan Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
urged Murray to have the " Birmingham hip (BHR)" operation he underwent in August 2018, involving a cobalt-chrome metal cap being placed over the femur with a matching metal cup in the acetabulum (a conservative bone-saving alternative to a traditional Total Hip Replacement). Bryan informed Murray that the BHR would improve his quality of life and may help him return to the professional tennis tour. On 29 January, Murray announced on Instagram that he had undergone hip resurfacing surgery in London and hoped that it would "be the end of my hip pain." On 4 February, in an interview with '' The Times'', Professor Derek McMinn, who invented the BHR implant and procedure, gave the opinion that Murray's chances of returning to competitive tennis should be "in the high 90 per cent". On 7 March, Murray stated in an interview that he was now free of pain in his hip as a result of the surgery and may therefore return to playing competitive tennis, but that any potential Wimbledon return would be dependent on how his hip felt, and that he would not rush his comeback and may test his condition by playing doubles. On 16 May 2019, Murray received his knighthood from
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
, two years after he was awarded the honour. Murray returned to the professional tennis circuit in June, entering the doubles competition of the Queen's Club Championships alongside
Feliciano Lopez Feliciano may refer to: People *Feliciano (name), including a list of people with the name Places *San José de Feliciano, Argentine city *Feliciano River, river in Argentina *Estadio Feliciano Gambarte, stadium in Argentina *Dom Feliciano Dom F ...
. The duo won their first round match against the top seeds Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah in straight sets and then beat the defending champions
John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
and Henri Kontinen in the semi finals. Murray and Lopez went on to win the tournament by defeating
Rajeev Ram Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Ram is a five-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's d ...
and Joe Salisbury in a final set champions tiebreak. Following the win, Murray stated that his "hip felt great" and that "there was no pain." Murray continued his comeback from injury by partnering
Marcelo Melo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
in the doubles at the Eastbourne International where they lost in the first round against Cabal and Farah. At the
2019 Wimbledon Championships The 2019 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main tournament began on Monday 1 July 2019 and finished on Sunday 14 J ...
, Murray entered the men's doubles and mixed doubles events. In the men's doubles he partnered Pierre-Hugues Herbert and was eliminated in the second round, while his
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
partnership with Serena Williams ended with a third round defeat to top seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar. After Murray's Wimbledon campaign, he and his brother Jamie participated in the Citi Open doubles, where they defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Nicolas Mahut before losing to Michael Venus and
Raven Klaasen Raven Klaasen ( ; born 16 October 1982) is a South African professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2019, and has won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, includi ...
in the round of 16. His next tournament at the Canadian Open renewed his partnership with
Feliciano Lopez Feliciano may refer to: People *Feliciano (name), including a list of people with the name Places *San José de Feliciano, Argentine city *Feliciano River, river in Argentina *Estadio Feliciano Gambarte, stadium in Argentina *Dom Feliciano Dom F ...
where they defeated Lukasz Kubot and
Marcelo Melo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
and lost to Fabrice Martin and
Jeremy Chardy Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...
. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Murray stated his return to the singles competition at the Western and Southern Open and revealed his plans to play in China in the autumn. In his first singles match since the 2019 Australian Open, Murray faced Richard Gasquet in the first round of the 2019 Cincinnati Masters, losing in straight sets. In the quarter-final of the Cincinnati doubles tournament, Andy Murray and Feliciano López met Jamie Murray and
Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, havi ...
in only the second match between the siblings in their senior careers; Jamie and Skupski won in three sets to progress, with Andy stating afterwards that he would now concentrate his efforts on returning to the singles tour. Murray then played at the
2019 Winston-Salem Open The 2019 Winston–Salem Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 51st edition of the Winston-Salem Open (as successor to previous tournaments in New Haven and Long Island), and part of the ATP World Tour 250 se ...
, where he faced Tennys Sandgren in the first round. Murray lost in straight sets, though the score was close. Murray then contemplated dropping down to Challenger level, skipping the US Open entirely to focus on two tournaments happening concurrently. Murray opted to play at the
2019 Rafa Nadal Open Banc Sabadell The 2019 Rafa Nadal Open Banc Sabadell was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the second edition of the tournament which was part of the 2019 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Manacor, Spain between 26 August and ...
Challenger event, the first time he had competed on the second tier Challenger Tour since 2005. In the first round of the event, Murray defeated 17-year-old Imran Sibille in straight sets in under 43 minutes to record his first singles victory since his hip surgery. He lost to Matteo Viola in the third round. In September 2019, Murray participated in the inaugural Zhuhai Championships, losing to eventual champion Alex de Minaur in the second round. He also participated in the China Open, where he recorded a win against Matteo Berrettini, ranked 13th in the world, but he was eliminated by eventual champion Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final. Murray lost against 12th ranked Fabio Fognini in the second round of the Shanghai Open, before winning the first title after his operation in the European Open in October 2019, beating three-time Grand Slam winner
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
in the final.Andy Murray tearful as he revels in European Open final victory over Stan Wawrinka
The Independent, 20 October 2019
In November 2019, he represented Great Britain for the first time since 2016 after being named in the squad for the
2019 Davis Cup The 2019 Davis Cup was the 108th edition of the Davis Cup, a tournament between national teams in men's tennis. It was sponsored by Rakuten. For this edition, the format of the cup was changed. The main modification is the World Group took place ...
finals; however, he was only able to play one rubber in Great Britain's run to the semi-finals. At the end of November 2019, a television documentary, ''Andy Murray: Resurfacing'', was released on the
Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...
platform, detailing Murray's various attempts to overcome his hip injury over a two-year period from his defeat at Wimbledon in 2017 to his doubles victory at Queen's Club in 2019. In late December, Murray's team confirmed that the pelvic injury which had curtailed his involvement in the Davis Cup would also prevent him from entering the upcoming
2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. T ...
and the inaugural ATP Cup.


2020: First top 10 win in three years

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous tournaments on the 2020 ATP Tour were either cancelled or rescheduled for later in the year. Murray's first ATP tournament of 2020 was at the
Western & Southern Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
in August in which he entered as a wildcard. He beat Frances Tiafoe in the first round before beating world No. 7
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
in the second, his first victory over a top-10 player in over three years and the 102nd of his career. He lost his third round match to Milos Raonic in straight sets. In his first round match at the spectator-less US Open Murray came back from two down to narrowly defeat Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in five sets. Then in the second round he lost in straight sets to the 15th seed
Felix Auger-Aliassime Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...
of Canada. He then entered the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
as a wildcard but was defeated in the first round in straight sets by
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
. Murray's last tournament of the year was the
Bett1Hulks Indoors The 2020 Bett1Hulks Indoors is a ATP tournament organised for male professional tennis players, held in Cologne, Germany, in mid-October 2020 on indoor hard courts. It was primarily organised due to the cancellation of many tournaments during the ...
where he received a wildcard into the main draw and lost in the first round to Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. He did not enter the European Open and thus failed to defend his title.


2021: Wimbledon third round

Murray was due to start his season at the
2021 Australian Open The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. It was the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Major tournament of the year. It was ...
again as a wildcard but this was put in doubt after testing positive for COVID-19 on 14 January. On 22 January, it was confirmed that he would miss the Australian Open due to not being able to find a workable quarantine after his positive test. His first tournament of the season was the
2021 Open Sud de France The 2021 Open Sud de France is a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is the 34th edition of the event, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2021 ATP Tour. It takes place at the Arena Montpellier in Montpellier, France, from F ...
where, as a wildcard, he lost in the first round. After that in March, he competed at the
2021 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament The 2021 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (or Rotterdam Open) is a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is taking place at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, between 1 and 7 March 2021. It is the 48th edit ...
in Rotterdam as a wildcard where he lost in the second round against Andrey Rublev. Murray was largely inactive during the next three months due to a groin injury, managing only two match appearances in doubles at the
Italian Open Italian Open may refer to: *Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year. *Italian Open (golf) The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
in May. This left his ranking too low for a direct entry for the French Open. He decided against entering qualifying or trying to earn a wild card in order to focus on the upcoming grass court season. He returned to singles play as a wildcard at the Queen's Club Championships where he defeated
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
in the first round but lost in the second to the 1st seed, Matteo Berrettini, in straight sets. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
he received a wildcard. He lost in the third round to Denis Shapovalov, after defeating 24th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili and qualifier
Oscar Otte Oscar Otte (; born 16 July 1993) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 36 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved on 27 June 2022, and has a career-high doubles rank ...
. Murray entered into the men's singles and men's doubles at the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
as the two-time defending champion. Murray was drawn against world no. 15 Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, but he withdrew before his first-round singles match due to a quadriceps strain, electing to remain in the doubles match. Murray was replaced by Australian Max Purcell, who went on to defeat Auger-Aliassime. Murray, along with partner Joe Salisbury, reached the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event before losing to the Croatian pair and eventual silver medallists Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig, after defeating French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the first round, and German pair
Kevin Krawietz Kevin Krawietz (born 24 January 1992) is a German professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the French Open doubles title in both 2019 and 2020 alongside compatriot Andreas Mies. The ...
and Tim Pütz in the second. Murray played two events on the US circuit. At the 2021 Western & Southern Open, Murray won as a wildcard in straight sets against Richard Gasquet before losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. At the
2021 Winston-Salem Open The 2021 Winston-Salem Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 52nd edition of the Winston-Salem Open (as successor to previous tournaments in New Haven and Long Island), and part of the ATP Tour 250 Series of ...
, Murray entered as a wildcard again and won in straight sets against Noah Rubin (a replacement for
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
who withdrew shortly before the start of the match), in the first round, before losing to Frances Tiafoe in the second. At the US Open, he lost to
Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
in five sets in the first round. The match was controversial, with Murray accusing Tsitsipas of cheating, in reference to an eight-minute bathroom break that was had by Tsitsipas during the match. Murray subsequently entered the
2021 Open de Rennes The 2021 Open de Rennes was a professional tennis tournament played on hardcourt, hard courts. It was the fifteenth edition of the tournament and part of the 2021 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Rennes, France between 13 and 19 September 202 ...
, an event on the ATP Challenger Tour after accepting a wildcard. He defeated
Yannick Maden Yannick Maden (born 28 October 1989) is a retired German tennis player. He graduated from Clemson University, where he played on the tennis team before entering the professional tour. Professional career Maden made his ATP main draw debut as a ...
in the first round in straight sets, but lost in three sets to
Roman Safiullin Roman Rishatovich Safiullin; tt-Cyrl, Роман Рәшит улы Сафиуллин, translit=Roman Räşit ulı Safiullin. (born 7 August 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. Safiullin is a junior major champion, having won the 201 ...
. Murray then reached the quarterfinal of the
Moselle Open The Moselle Open (Open de Moselle from 2003 to 2010) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour from 2003, The venue for the tournament was most recently the Arènes an ...
as a wildcard only losing out to the eventual champion and top seed, Poland's Hubert Hurkacz. Murray lost also as a wildcard in the round of 16 to the 2nd seed and eventual champion Casper Ruud at the
2021 San Diego Open The 2021 San Diego Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 1st edition of the San Diego Open, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2021 ATP Tour. It was primarily organized due to the cancellation o ...
. He received another wildcard for the Indian Wells Masters, where he reached the third round and was beaten by
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
. He then reached the second round of the European Open as a wildcard after a 3-hour and 45 minute marathon win against Frances Tiafoe. He lost in the second round to
Diego Schwartzman Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist, his be ...
in straight sets. At the Vienna Open, Murray entered as a wildcard and upset 5th seed and world No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz in the first round in three sets to claim the 103rd top 10 victory of his career and the first of the year, but fell in straight sets to Carlos Alcaraz the following round. At the
2021 Stockholm Open The 2021 Stockholm Open was a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 52nd edition of the tournament, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2021 ATP Tour. It took place at the Kungliga tennishallen in St ...
, he reached the quarterfinals as a wildcard, defeating top seed and World No. 10 Jannik Sinner for his second top 10 win in two weeks and for the season and the 104th in his career.


2022: First ATP finals since 2019, 700th match win and return to top 50

Murray entered the 2021 Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament held in Abu Dhabi in December. After defeating Dan Evans in straight sets, he met Rafael Nadal for their first match since the semi-finals of the
2016 Madrid Open The 2016 Mutua Madrid Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from 30 April to 8 May 2016. It was the 15th edition of the event on the ATP World Tour and 8th on the WTA To ...
. He beat Nadal in straight sets. Murray lost the final match in straight sets and a tiebreak to Andrey Rublev. After a first round loss as a wildcard at the
Melbourne Summer Set Melbourne Summer Set was a set of two simultaneous tennis tournaments organized by Tennis Australia at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia for the first time in response to the cancellation of several warm-up tournaments normally scheduled befor ...
to Facundo Bagnis, Murray reached the final as a wildcard at the Sydney Tennis Classic, beating
Viktor Durasovic Viktor Durasovic ( sr, Viktor Đurasović; born 19 March 1997) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. Durasovic has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 298, which he achieved in October 2019. ...
in the first round and second seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round in a match lasting over 3 hours. After his quarterfinal opponent, 8th seed David Goffin retired due to injury, he beat Reilly Opelka in the semifinals before falling to
Aslan Karatsev Aslan Kazbekovich Karatsev (russian: Аслан Казбекович Карацев, os, Хъарацаты Хъазыбеджы фырт Аслан; born 4 September 1993) is a Russian-Israeli professional tennis player. He reached a career-hi ...
in the final. Murray participated in the
2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
as a wildcard . Murray met Nikoloz Basilashvili for the second time in the space of a week, and won the first round in five sets. He lost in the 2nd round, in straight sets against Taro Daniel. Having decided to end his trial period with new coach Jan de Witt, Murray received a wildcard to play at the 2022 Rotterdam Open. He beat Alexander Bublik in the first round, and lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime in the second. He also hired
Dani Vallverdu Dani may refer to: People * Dani people, a people living in the central highlands of West Papua * Dani (surname), a surname * Danes (Germanic tribe), a tribe in southern Scandinavia * Dani (footballer, born 1951) (Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa), Span ...
as his replacement coach. Murray entered the 2022 Qatar Open as a wildcard, and, in a rematch of the second round of the Australian open, met Taro Daniel, who he defeated in straight sets. Murray lost his second-round match to second seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-0 6-1, being served a bagel for the first time since his loss to Novak Djokovic at the 2015 Miami Open final. After Qatar, Murray entered the
2022 Dubai Tennis Championships The 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) was an ATP 500 event on the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 500 tournament on the 2022 WTA Tour. Both events were held at the Aviation C ...
as a wildcard , looking to secure his first win at the event in five years. He beat Christopher O'Connell, but lost to Jannik Sinner in straight sets. After his stint with Vallverdu ended, Murray re-hired Ivan Lendl as his coach, who he had worked with twice before. In March, Murray entered the
2022 Indian Wells Masters The 2022 Indian Wells Masters (branded as the 2022 BNP Paribas Open for sponsorship reasons) was a professional men's and women's tennis tournament played in Indian Wells, California. It was the 48th edition of the men's event and 33rd of the wome ...
as a wildcard, meeting Taro Daniel in the first round, in their third meeting in 2022. He beat Daniel in three sets, marking his 700th win overall, but lost in the second round to Alexander Bublik in straight sets. Moving onto the
2022 Miami Open The 2022 Miami Open was a professional hardcourt tennis tournament played from March 22 to April 3, 2022 on the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the 37th edition of the men's and women's event and was classified as a ...
as a wildcard, Murray beat
Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 33 achieved on 9 May 2016. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 achieved on 22 July 2019. Pro ...
in straight sets. He lost in straight sets to top seed and world no. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the second round. Although Murray had originally stated in February that he is planning to skip the Spring clay season, he later changed his mind and accepted a wildcard into the 2022 Madrid Open in April. At the 2022 Madrid Open Murray beat Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov in the first two rounds to set up a clash against Novak Djokovic for the first time in five years. Murray later withdrew from the match due to a stomach illness, giving Djokovic a walkover. Murray's first tournament back was the challenger tournament in
Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
, where he reached the semifinals before losing to Denis Kudla in 3 sets. Murray then played in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, where after beating Chris O'Connell and 7th seed Alexander Bublik, Murray won his first match against a top 5 player since the
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
by beating top seed and world no. 5
Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
in straight sets. He then beat
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
in straight sets to reach the final, where he lost to Matteo Berrettini in 3 sets. As a result, Murray's ranking rose to no. 47, entering the top 50 for the first time since 2018. However, an injury sustained during the final forced him to withdraw from the Queen’s Club Championships. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Murray beat
James Duckworth James or Jim Duckworth may refer to: *Sir James Duckworth (businessman, born 1840) (1840–1915), British businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament * James Duckworth (businessman, born 1869) (1869–1937), British businessman and son of Sir Jame ...
in four sets in the first round, before losing in the second round to 20th seed John Isner, in four sets. After Wimbledon, he entered the Hall of Fame Open, where he reached the quarterfinal before losing in straight sets to the third seed, Alexander Bublik. Murray's American hard court swing began with a first-round loss at the
Citi Open The Washington Open (known as the Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 50 ...
to Mikael Ymer, as well as another first-round loss to Taylor Fritz, at the Canadian Open as a wildcard. For the first time since 2005, Murray entered a qualifying tournament for the
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
. However, thanks to a Special Exempt spot being withdrawn from the tournament, Murray was moved to the main draw, where he entered the second round by defeating
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
in three sets. In the second round, Murray lost to Cameron Norrie in three sets. At the 2022 US Open he lost in the third round to Matteo Berrettini.


Rivalries


Murray vs. Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Murray have met 36 times with Djokovic leading 25–11. Djokovic leads 5–1 on clay, 20–8 on hard courts, and Murray leads 2–0 on grass. The two are almost exactly the same age, with Murray being only a week older than Djokovic. They went to training camp together, and Murray won the first match they ever played as teenagers. The pair have met 19 times in finals, with Djokovic leading 11–8. Ten of the finals were at ATP Masters 1000 events, and they are tied at 5–5. They have met in seven major finals: The
2011 Australian Open The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players wer ...
, the 2012 US Open, the
2013 Australian Open The 2013 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 to 27 January 2013. It was the 101st edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. The tournament ...
, the
2013 Wimbledon Championships The 2013 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 127th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
, the
2015 Australian Open The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Stan Wawrinka was the defend ...
, the
2016 Australian Open The 2016 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 and 31 January 2016. It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, and the
2016 French Open The 2016 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 120th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 22 May to 5 June and consisted of ...
. Djokovic won in Australia four times and at the French Open, Murray emerged as the victor at the US Open and Wimbledon. The former of Murray's victories was the longest ever final at the US Open, tying with the 1988 final played between Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander at 4 hours and 53 minutes, while the latter was notable for being the first home triumph in men's singles at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
since 1936. They also played a nearly five-hour-long semifinal match in the
2012 Australian Open The 2012 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 16 to 29 January 2012. It was the 100th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. The tournamen ...
, in which Djokovic won 7–5 in the fifth set after Murray led 2 sets to 1. Murray and Djokovic met again in 2012 at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with Murray winning in straight sets. During the final of the
2012 Shanghai Masters The 2012 Bank of Communications, Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters (snooker), Shanghai Masters was a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 and 23 September 2012 at the Shanghai Indoor St ...
, Murray held five championship points in the second set, however Djokovic saved each of them, forcing a deciding set. He eventually prevailed to win his first Shanghai Masters title, ending Murray's 12–match winning streak at the event. The three set matches they played in Rome and Shanghai in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
respectively were voted the ATP World Tour Match of the Year for each respective season. Due to the tight competition between 2008 and 2013, many saw this as the emerging rivalry. Djokovic went on to dominate the rivalry after the 2013 Wimbledon final, winning 13 of their last 16 matches. In 2016, Murray suffered his 4th loss (his 5th total) in the final of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
from Djokovic, followed by another defeat in the Roland Garros final, where Djokovic won his first Roland Garros title and completed the Career Grand Slam. Murray and Djokovic met in the final at the year's end final of the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time in their rivalry, where the winner would be granted the year-end No. 1 status. Djokovic dropped only one set en route to the final, but lost in straight sets to Murray, who finished the year at No. 1 and became the first British player to achieve this feat.


Murray vs. Federer

Murray and Roger Federer have met 25 times with Federer leading 14–11. Federer leads 12–10 on hard courts and 2–1 on grass, having never met on clay. They have met six times at the Grand Slam tournament level, with Federer leading 5–1. After Federer won the first professional match they played, Murray dominated the first half of the rivalry, with an 8–5 lead in 2010. The second half of the rivalry has been dominated by Federer, who leads 9–3 since 2011, and has led their rivalry since the
2014 ATP World Tour Finals The 2014 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 9 and 16 November 2014. It was the season-end ...
. Federer leads 5–3 in finals, having won each of their Grand Slam Final meetings at the 2008 US Open and
2010 Australian Open The 2010 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 31 January. It was the 98th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. In the singles competi ...
, both of which Federer won in straight sets, and the
2012 Wimbledon Championships The 2012 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 126th edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...
, where Murray took the first set, but ended up losing in 4 sets. Murray leads 6–3 in ATP 1000 tournaments and 2–0 in finals. They have met five times at the ATP World Tour Finals, with Murray winning in Shanghai in 2008 and Federer coming out victorious in London in 2009, 2010, 2012, and in 2014. In August 2012, Murray met Federer in the final of the London 2012 Olympics at Wimbledon Centre Court, just four weeks after the 2012 Wimbledon Final, in which Federer had defeated Murray to win his record-tying 7th title at the All-England Club. Murray defeated Federer in straight sets to win the gold medal, denying Federer a
Career Golden Slam The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year, also referred to as the "Calendar-year Grand Slam" or "Calendar Slam". In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam p ...
. In 2013 Murray beat Federer for the first time in a major in the semi-finals of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, prevailing in five sets after Federer had come back twice from a set down. Their last grand slam meeting was at the
2015 Wimbledon Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
semi-finals, where a dominant Federer defeated Murray in straight sets, earning a place in his 10th Wimbledon final. Murray is one of only three players to have recorded 10 or more victories over Federer, the other two being Nadal and Djokovic. Their most recent meeting took place at the 2015 Cincinnati Masters semi-finals, with Federer winning the match in two close sets, recording his fifth consecutive victory over Murray.


Murray vs. Nadal

Murray has played against Rafael Nadal on 24 occasions since
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
, with Nadal leading 17–7. Nadal leads 7–2 on clay, 3–0 on grass and 7–5 on hard courts. The pair regularly meet at Grand Slam level, with nine out of their twenty-four meetings coming in slams, with Nadal leading 7–2 (3–0 at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, 2–0 at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, 1–1 at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
and 1–1 at the US Open). Eight of these nine appearances have been at quarter-final and semi-final level. They have never met in a slam final, however, Murray leads 3–1 in
ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...
finals, with Nadal winning at Indian Wells in
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
and Murray winning in Rotterdam the same year, Tokyo in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, and at Madrid in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
. Murray lost three consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals to Nadal in 2011 from the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
to the US Open. The pair had not met for three years since the final of the 2011 Japan Open until the quarter-finals of the 2014 Rome Masters, although they were scheduled to meet in the semi-final of the
2012 Miami Masters The 2012 Sony Ericsson Open (also known as 2012 Miami Masters), a men's and women's tennis tournament, was held from March 19 to April 1, 2012. It was the 28th edition of the Miami Masters event and played on outdoor hardcourt, hard courts at the ...
before Nadal withdrew injured. At the semi-final stage of the
2014 French Open The 2014 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 118th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June. It consisted of e ...
, Nadal triumphed in a dominant straight sets win for the loss of just 6 games. In one of their most recent meetings, Murray beat Nadal for the first time on clay, and the first time in a Masters 1000 final, at the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf), a men's golf tournament played from 1968 to 2007, except 1994–2000 * WTA Madrid Open (tennis), a women's tennis event played from 1996 to 2003 * Madrid Open (tennis) ...
in 2015. Murray fell to Nadal in the semi-finals of the 2016 Monte Carlo Masters, despite taking the first set. Three weeks later they met again at the semi-final stage of the
2016 Madrid Open The 2016 Mutua Madrid Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from 30 April to 8 May 2016. It was the 15th edition of the event on the ATP World Tour and 8th on the WTA To ...
, this time Murray winning the match in straight sets.


Murray vs. Wawrinka

Murray and
Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...
have played 22 times with Murray leading 13–9. Murray leads 9–4 on hard courts and 3–0 on grass courts while Wawrinka leads 5–1 on clay courts. They have also met seven times in Grand Slam tournaments with Wawrinka holding a slight 4–3 edge. They have contested some close matches and one of their most notable meetings was in the
2009 Wimbledon The 2009 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 123rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...
fourth round, which Murray won in five sets; this was the first men's match to be played under the Wimbledon roof, having the latest finish for a Wimbledon match at the time. Wawrinka also ended Murray's title defence at the 2013 US Open quarter-finals with a comfortable straight sets victory. Other close matches between the two include three-set wins for Murray at the 2008 Canada Open and
2011 Shanghai Masters The 2011 Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 5–11 September 2011 at the Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China. This was the first time that the Bank of Communications ...
, and the 2010 US Open which Wawrinka won in four sets. While Murray has led the majority of the rivalry, Wawrinka won their first two matches and beat Murray three times in succession between 2013 and 2015, winning all of them in straight sets, until Murray ended the losing streak at the
2016 French Open The 2016 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 120th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 22 May to 5 June and consisted of ...
, beating defending champion Wawrinka in four sets to reach his first-ever French Open final. Around this time Wawrinka was identified by some, including Djokovic, as a potential contender to turn the
Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...
tennis quartet into a "Big Five", although Wawrinka himself downplayed those suggestions, stating that he was still far behind the others. Their most recent match in a major was in the first round of the
2020 French Open The 2020 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was firs ...
, which Wawrinka won in straight sets. However, in the first round of the
2022 Cincinnati Masters The 2022 Western & Southern Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts from August 15–21, 2022, as part of the US Open Series. It was a Masters 1000 tournament on the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 tournament on ...
, Murray won in three tight sets.


Playing style

Murray plays an
all-court This page is a glossary of tennis terminology. A * Ace: Serve where the tennis ball lands inside the '' service box'' and is not touched by the receiver; thus, a shot that is both a serve and a winner is an ace. Aces are usually powerful and gen ...
game with an emphasis on defensive baseline play, and in 2009 professional tennis coach
Paul Annacone Paul Annacone (born March 20, 1963) is an American former touring professional tennis player and current tennis coach. He is the former coach of 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras, and 2017 US Open ...
stated that Murray "may be the best counterpuncher on tour today." His strengths include groundstrokes with low error rate, the ability to anticipate and react, and his transition from defence to offence with speed, which enables him to hit winners from defensive positions. Murray also has one of the best two-handed backhands on the tour, with dynamic stroke execution while he primarily uses his forehand, which is more passive, and a sliced backhand to let opponents play into his defensive game before playing more offensively. Tim Henman stated in 2013 that Murray may have the best
lob Lob may refer to: Sports * Lob (pickleball) * Lob (tennis) * Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football * Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket People * Lob Brown, American college football player * L ...
in the game, succeeding Lleyton Hewitt. Murray's tactics often involve passive exchanges from the baseline. He is capable of injecting sudden pace into his groundstrokes to surprise his opponents who are used to the slow rally. Murray is also one of the top returners in the game, often able to block back fast serves with his excellent reach and ability to anticipate. For this reason, Murray is rarely aced. Murray is known for being one of the most intelligent tacticians on the court, often constructing points. Other strengths in his game, although not huge parts of his game, include his drop shot and net game. As he plays predominantly from the baseline, he usually approaches the net to
volley Volley or Volly may refer to: People * Volly De Faut (1904–1973), American jazz reed player * Paul Volley (born 1971), English rugby union player Sports * Volley (association football), an air-borne strike in association football *In some rack ...
when finishing points more quickly. Murray is most proficient on a fast surface, like grass, where he has won eight singles titles including the Wimbledon Championships and the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal, although hard courts are his preferred surface. He has worked hard since 2008 on improving his clay court game, ultimately winning his first clay titles during 2015 at Munich and Madrid, as well as reaching his first French Open final during 2016. While Murray's serve is a major weapon for him, with his first serve reaching speeds of 130 mph or higher on some occasions and winning him many free points, it can become inconsistent when hit under pressure, especially with a more vulnerable and slower second serve. Since the 2011 season, under Ivan Lendl's coaching, Murray has played a more offensive game and has also worked to improve his second serve, forehand, consistency and mental game which have all been crucial to his further success.


Endorsements and equipment

In 2009, German manufacturer
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
and Murray signed a five-year-deal worth £30 million. This included wearing their range of tennis shoes. The contract with Adidas allowed Murray to keep his shirt sleeve sponsors
Shiatzy Chen Shiatzy Chen () is a Taiwanese luxury fashion house founded in 1978 by Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia (王陳彩霞) and her husband Wang Yuan-Hong. Its style is described as "neo-Chinese chic", combining the aesthetics of Chinese clothing and handicraft ...
,
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
and
Highland Spring Highland Spring is a Scottish supplier of natural source bottled water. It produces still and sparkling water at its factory in Blackford, Perth and Kinross, although despite the name this area is not within the Scottish Highlands. Its water is ...
. Before he was signed by Adidas in late 2009, he wore Fred Perry apparel. At the end of their contract together Adidas decided not to re-sign with Murray, and he began a 4-year partnership with athletic apparel company Under Armour in December 2014, reportedly worth $25 million. Murray signed with
Castore J.Carter Sporting Club Limited (operating as Castore) is a British manufacturer of sportswear and athletic clothing, headquartered in Manchester, England. The company's products are sold in more than 50 countries worldwide and have sponsorship dea ...
for the 2019 season which Murray called his last deal before announcing his retirement. Murray uses
Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
rackets, and regularly appears in advertisements for the brand. He endorses the Head Radical Pro model, whereas his actual playing racket (underneath the various Radical Pro paintjobs) is reported to be a customized pro stock PT57A, derived from the original Pro Tour 630 model, but with a 16×19 string pattern. The racquet used to be set up extremely heavy at the beginning of his career, but after a 2007 wrist injury its weight was lowered. In June 2012, the Swiss watch manufacturer Rado announced that Murray had signed a deal to wear their D-Star 200 model.


Coaches

Murray's coaching staff has changed through the years and are as follows: Leon Smith (1998–2004), Pato Álvarez (2003–2005),
Mark Petchey Mark Rodney James Petchey (born 1 August 1970) is a former tennis player from England, who turned professional in 1988. He now works as a tennis commentator and analyst for Amazon Prime, ITV, the BBC, the Tennis Channel and others. Personal ...
(2005–2006),
Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is a former professional tennis player and an American tennis coach. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles rank ...
(2006–2007), Miles Maclagan (2007–2010), Àlex Corretja (2010–2011), Ivan Lendl (2011–2014, 2016–2017, 2022-), ,
Jonas Björkman Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
(2015),
Jamie Delgado Jamie Delgado (born 21 March 1977) is a British tennis coach and former professional player. Delgado has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, most recently in 2006. Delgado holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimb ...
(2016–2021). In 2022 he was coached for a short while by
Dani Vallverdu Dani may refer to: People * Dani people, a people living in the central highlands of West Papua * Dani (surname), a surname * Danes (Germanic tribe), a tribe in southern Scandinavia * Dani (footballer, born 1951) (Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa), Span ...
. and he is currently coached by Ivan Lendl since March 2022.


Charitable work

Murray is a founding member of the
Malaria No More UK Malaria No More UK is a charity working to combat malaria in Africa. The Malaria No More UK office is located in London. Overview Malaria No More UK launched in 2009. The charity is made up of a small team working on advocacy, communications & f ...
Leadership Council and helped launch the charity in 2009 with
David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
. Footage from the launch at Wembley Stadium can be seen on YouTube and the charity's website. Murray also made 'Nets Needed', a short public service announcement, for the charity to help raise awareness and funds to help in the fight against malaria. Murray has also taken part in several charity tennis events, including the Rally for Relief events that took place before the start of the
2011 Australian Open The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players wer ...
. In June 2013, Murray teamed up with former British No. 1 Tim Henman for a charity doubles match against Murray's coach and eight-time grand slam champion Ivan Lendl, and No. 6 Tomáš Berdych at the
Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship reas ...
in London. The event named Rally Against Cancer was organised to raise money for Royal Marsden Cancer Charity after his best friend and fellow British player Ross Hutchins was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. The event took place following the final day of competitive play at the
AEGON Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, on Sunday 16 June. Subsequently, following his victory at the tournament, Murray donated his entire prize money pot to
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS Foundation Trust which operates the Royal Marsden Hospital facilities on two sites: *The Chelsea site in Brompton, next to the Royal Brompton Hospital, in Fulham Road *The Sutton site in Belm ...
. In June 2014, following the death of Elena Baltacha due to
liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...
, Murray featured in an event known as 'Rally for Bally'. Murray played at Queen's Club alongside Victoria Azarenka,
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
, Heather Watson and his brother Jamie. The event raised money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis. Children from Baltacha's academy took to the court to play alongside Murray. As a result of his various charitable exploits, Murray was awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award for 2014.


Image


National identity

Murray identifies himself as
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
and British. His national identity has often been commented on by the media. While making a cameo appearance on the comedy show '' Outnumbered'', Murray was asked whether he was British or Scottish, to which he responded "Depends whether I win or not." Much of the discussion about Murray's national identity began before Wimbledon 2006, when he was quoted as saying he would "support whoever England is playing" at the
2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
. English ex-tennis player Tim Henman confirmed that the remarks had been made in jest and were only in response to Murray being teased by journalist Des Kelly and Henman about Scotland's failure to qualify. Murray initially refused to endorse either side of the debate in the 2014 referendum on
Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...
, citing the abuse he had received after his England-World Cup comments in 2006. Just before the referendum, Murray tweeted a message that was considered by the media to be supportive of independence. He received online abuse for expressing his opinion, including messages that were described as "vile" by Police Scotland; one referred to the Dunblane massacre. A few days after the vote, in which a 55% majority opposed Scottish independence, Murray said that he did not regret stating his view, but said that it was out of character and that he would concentrate on his tennis career in the future.


Victory salute

After defeating Nikolay Davydenko at Wimbledon 2012, Murray pointed upwards with both hands and wagged them back and forth while looking to the sky. Murray declined to reveal the reason, and ever since, he has continued to celebrate his victories with this gesture. Murray marked his first Wimbledon title in 2013 with the same victory salute. Then in his book ''Seventy-Seven; My Path to Wimbledon Glory'', released in November 2013, Murray said: “The real reason is that around that time I had a few friends and family who had various issues affecting them ... I knew that they would be watching and I wanted to let them know I was thinking of them.” After winning the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
in January 2013, he dedicated the victory to his friend Ross Hutchins who had been diagnosed with cancer in December 2012. Hutchins confirmed that Murray's victory salute after this win was a sign to him.


Other

In 2006, there was controversy after a match with
Kenneth Carlsen Kenneth Carlsen (born 17 April 1973) is a Danish former professional tennis player, who was active between 1992 and 2007. Carlsen played left-handed with a one-handed backhand. His greatest asset was his powerful serve, and his game was therefor ...
. Having been given a warning for racket abuse, Murray went on in the post-match interview to state that he and Carlsen had "played like women" during the first set. Murray was booed for the remark, but said later that the comment had been intended as a jocular response to what
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...
had said at the Hopman Cup. A few months later, Murray was fined for swearing at the umpire,
Adel Aref Adel Aref (born 2 March 1980) is a French-Tunisian former international tennis umpire and sports executive. He has also served as Director of Cabinet of the President at Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint Germain Football Club and PR Director f ...
during a
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
doubles rubber with the Serbia and Montenegro Davis Cup team. Murray refused to shake hands with the umpire at the end of the match. In 2007, Murray suggested that tennis had a match-fixing problem, stating that everyone knows it goes on, in the wake of the investigation surrounding Nikolay Davydenko. Both Davydenko and Rafael Nadal questioned his comments, but Murray responded that his words had been taken out of context. In a June 2015 column written for the French sports newspaper '' L'Équipe'', Murray criticised what he described as a double standard applied by many in their attitudes towards Amélie Mauresmo in her role as Murray's coach, highlighting how many observers attributed his poor performances during the early part of her tenure to her appointment, which Murray denied, before pointing out that his previous coaches had not been blamed by the media for other spells of poor form. He also lamented the lack of female coaches working in elite tennis, and concluded: "Have I become a feminist? Well, if being a feminist is about fighting so that a woman is treated like a man then yes, I suppose I have". Murray has corrected others a number of times on the subject of women's tennis. After BBC host John Inverdale indirectly suggested Murray was the first person to win more than one tennis Olympic gold medal, Murray interjected; "I think
Venus and Serena The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were co ...
have won about four each." Murray has also argued that male and female tennis players should receive equal amounts of prize money. Murray has not commented on his personal opinion on Britain's decision to leave the European Union. However, following his win at Wimbledon in 2016, he expressed his surprise at the outcome of the referendum in the UK and added that "it's important that everyone comes together to make the best of it."


Career statistics


Grand Slam performance timeline

''Current through the 2022 US Open.''


Grand Slam tournament finals: 11 (3 titles, 8 runners-up)


Year–end championships finals


Singles: 1 (1 title)


Olympic medal matches


Singles: 2 (2 gold medals)


Mixed doubles: 1 (1 silver medal)


Records and achievements

* These records were attained in the Open Era. * Records in bold indicate peerless achievements. * Records in ''italics'' are currently active streaks.


Professional awards

*
ITF World Champion The International Tennis Federation (ITF) designates a World Champion each year based on performances throughout the year, emphasising the Grand Slam tournaments,ITF Constitution, p.26, Rule 2.2(a)(iii) and also considering team events such as the ...
: 2016. * ATP Player of the Year: 2016.


Awards and honours

* BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year: 2004 * BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year: 2012, 2015 * Most Titles in an ATP World Tour Season: 6 in
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, 9 in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
* US Open Series Champion:
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
,
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
* Best ATP World Tour Match of the Year (3): 2010, 2011, 2012 * Officer of the Order of the British Empire: 2013 * Laureus " World Breakthrough of the Year" Award: 2013 *
Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards are annual awards given to notable Scottish people. It is sponsored by the Scotch whisky company Glenfiddich, in association with The Scotsman newspaper. Nine awards are given out for art, business, envi ...
for Top Scot: 2013 *
Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards are annual awards given to notable Scottish people. It is sponsored by the Scotch whisky company Glenfiddich, in association with The Scotsman newspaper. Nine awards are given out for art, business, envi ...
for Sport: 2013 * BBC Sports Personality of the Year: 2013, 2015, 2016 * Doctor of the University of Stirling: 2014 * Freeman of Stirling: 2014 * Freeman of Merton: 2014 * Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year: 2014 * ITF Player of the Year: 2016 * Knight Bachelor: 2017


See also

*
2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes To commemorate British gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, various post boxes in the home towns of the medal winners around the United Kingdom, plus one each on Sark and the Isle of Man, were repainted gol ...
* List of Grand Slam men's singles champions *
Open Era tennis records – Men's singles The Open Era is the current era of professional tennis. It began in 1968 when the Grand Slam tournaments allowed professional players to compete with amateurs, ending the division that had persisted since the dawn of the sport in the 19th century. ...


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Andy 1987 births Dunblane massacre Living people Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic tennis players of Great Britain Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Wimbledon champions US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles US Open (tennis) junior champions Hopman Cup competitors Male feminists Knights Bachelor People in sports awarded knighthoods Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish expatriates in Spain Scottish feminists Scottish male tennis players Scottish Olympic medallists British male tennis players Sportspeople from Glasgow Sportspeople from Dunblane People from Oxshott BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Laureus World Sports Awards winners ITF World Champions