Andy Murray finished his career with three Grand Slam titles to his name, but suffered several near misses at majors throughout his tennis journey.
Murray was a runner-up at the Australian Open on five separate occasions, four of which he lost in the final to Novak Djokovic.
The Briton reached the championship match at Roland Garros in 2016, losing once again to Djokovic, and came second just once at Wimbledon, in 2012, the year before he won it for the first time.
He advanced past the semi-finals twice at the US Open, which is the tournament where, in 2008, he made his debut appearance in a Grand Slam final.
After knocking out Rafael Nadal, the top seed that year, Murray found himself one win away from a maiden major crown.
Andy Murray said who he thought was the greatest player of all time in 2008
In the final, he met Roger Federer, who at that point was already a 12-time Grand Slam champion at 27 years old.
Murray lost in straight sets to Federer, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2, as the Swiss legend went within one major of tying Pete Sampras‘ record.
After the match, the Scot said in his on-court interview that he felt his conqueror was the greatest player of all time, which he explained in a press conference afterwards.
He said: “It’s tough to say, I guess, that someone is outrightly the best player of all time. I mean, Sampras is obviously great, as well, and had some unbelievable runs.
“But I mean, I was watching on the TV when he was playing against Andreev, and it came up and said when he won the first set and matches and Slams, he’s won 144 matches and only lost 4.
| Year | Australian Open | Roland Garros | Wimbledon | US Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Novak Djokovic | Rafael Nadal | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer |
| 2007 | Roger Federer | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer | Roger Federer |
| 2006 | Roger Federer | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer | Roger Federer |
| 2005 | Marat Safin | Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer | Roger Federer |
| 2004 | Roger Federer | Gaston Gaudio | Roger Federer | Roger Federer |
| 2003 | Andre Agassi | Juan Carlos Ferrero | Roger Federer | Andy Roddick |
“And he’s only lost in his whole career, I think, you know, 23, 24 matches in Slams.
“In the big tournaments, he never has early losses. He’s been so dominant, you know, in terms of ranking for the last five years, even when I think Nadal might get very close to winning the same amount of Slams as Federer and Sampras.
“Even when someone as good as him, who is right behind him, you know, he’s still a long way ahead in points, and it’s only been until this year that Nadal has caught up to him.
“So I think that sort of five years of dominance, the runs here and at Wimbledon, winning five in a row, and even at the French, he’s definitely a better clay court player than Sampras.
“He’s coming up against definitely the best clay court player of all time in Nadal. That’s why I think that, you know, there’s a very strong argument for him being the best player.”
Andy Murray’s reaction after losing to Roger Federer in the 2008 US Open final
On the match against Federer, Murray said: “He played great today. You know, I didn’t really have any chance in the first set, but I had an opportunity in the second set to go up a break, and a few opportunities.
“And one of them, he actually missed a backhand, which should have been my game, I think, for me.
“It would have been – not necessarily would have won the match or anything, but it would have given me a bit of confidence. I wasn’t really ahead in any of the sets.
“That made it tough, but no, he played great today, and missed very few balls. Didn’t give me too many chances.”
Murray went on to win the US Open in 2012, defeating defending champion Djokovic in the final to secure his first Grand Slam title.
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