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Andy Murray Rafael Nadal ATP Finals 2015

Andy Murray explains how conversation with Rafael Nadal changed his career


Andy Murray has attributed much of his fine career to Rafael Nadal, as he revealed a pivotal conversation between the two.

Rafael Nadal has won an astonishing 22 majors and will be considered by many as the greatest player in history when he eventually retires. He was also a very early starter, with him turning professional at 15-years-old.

Murray has had a hall-of-fame career too having won three majors, two Olympic gold medals and reached world number one.

However, he has suggested things could have panned out very differently for him had he not come across Nadal in his youth.

Rafa and I are good friends and we have been since we were young,” Andy Murray told Hello!.

“We’ve grown up in competition together and hearing about his training set-up in Spain was a pivotal moment for me.

“He was able to practice so much more than me and hitting with Top 100 players when he was 14/15, I knew instantly I would have to change my set-up in the UK.

“I called my mum that night and told her I’d made my mind up, I was moving to Spain!”

Murray did, indeed, then move to Barcelona where his tennis found a whole new level and set him up for all his future successes.

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.