While he enjoyed an incredible career, Andy Murray is perhaps one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in tennis history.
Murray won a total of 46 titles, including three Grand Slams, two Olympic gold medals and 14 Masters crowns.
The Scot climbed all the way up to world number one during his best season on tour, 2016, becoming the first British player to secure the top spot since the rankings were introduced in 1973.
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Murray had to achieve all of the above in what was known as the ‘golden era’, defined by the dominance of the ‘big three’: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Andy Murray discusses playing in the same era as the big three
In each of Murray’s eight runner-up finishes at Grand Slams, he was denied by either Federer, Djokovic or Nadal.
As per Tennis 365, Murray said: “Could I have won more if Roger, Rafa and Novak were not around? Probably, but I don’t look at it like that.
“I believe I would have won more if there had been one less of them or, even better, two less of them!
“Coming back here now [Wimbledon], I do see this event differently. When I was playing, it was all about the pressure building and every year that I didn’t get over the line, there were more questions over whether I would ever do it.
“I wasn’t sure if I would ever get over the line at Wimbledon. Federer won seven, Djokovic has won seven, Nadal won a couple, so there were not too many chances for me to win around that.
Would you consider Andy Murray a top 10 player of all time?
“There were definitely times when I probably wished they were not playing at the same time as them, but the other way to look at this is I was fortunate to play these three great champions on the biggest stages of tennis and try to beat them.
“I may be biased, but for me, that was the best era we have ever seen in men’s tennis. To have three players like that winning 20-plus Grand Slams each. I’m not sure we will see that again in my lifetime.
“The way I look back on it is I was fortunate to play against and beat Djokovic on Centre Court at Wimbledon. I was fortunate to take on Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros, at a time when he was virtually unbeatable on clay. I was fortunate to beat Roger Federer in an Olympic final.
“I didn’t always get the results I wanted against them, but I have incredible experiences and memories from my career and I’m not sitting here now thinking about what might have been.
“I’m proud of what I achieved in that time. I put so much into it, I pushed my body as far as it could go and the achievements I have are pretty amazing given where I came from and how hard it is to make it in this sport.”
Andy Murray’s record against each member of the big three
Though he did not win anywhere near as many major titles as Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, Murray had plenty of success against the big three in his career.
Of the legendary trio, Murray had the best strike rate against Federer, having won 11 matches versus the Swiss while recording 14 losses.
Murray won six of the first eight meetings with Federer, and before 2014, Murray led the head-to-head.
Djokovic was the player Murray battled the most on tour out of the three, with the two facing off 36 times.
The Serb led 25-11, but Murray clinched one of the most important wins of his career against him in the 2013 Wimbledon final.
Against Nadal, Murray had seven wins and 17 losses, including his defeat to the Spaniard in the 2016 Roland Garros final.
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