Andy Murray labelled ‘a special man’ by former rival Roger Federer
Andy Murray has been waxed lyrical about by 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who revealed his hope for the Brit to ‘win many, many rounds at Wimbledon’ this year.
Murray has made an emphatic start to his grass court season on the ATP Challenger scene this year, winning all seven of his matches so far, having claimed the Surbiton title and reaching the quarter-final in Nottingham.
The moment @andy_murray won the Lexus Surbiton Trophy
And became the oldest @ATPChallenger winner in grass court history pic.twitter.com/RyyKcvG7SB
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 11, 2023
The British No.3’s former rival Federer was in London to open two new courts in the borough of Greenwich and spoke about Murray’s ‘love’ for the game, “Andy is a special man and I’m very happy he’s still able to play. He loves it.”
Federer continued, “He truly loves it. With all the complications he’s had with his hip, it’s amazing to see that he’s still going and I think we all should give him like, a proper sort of round of applause if you like, because what he’s going through and what he’s achieving with what he’s gone through is incredible.”
“Funny enough, he just won a Challenger, I believe in Surbiton last week. I played that back in ’99, lost in the semis. And he won the same week as Novak [Djokovic] got to this incredible record of 23 Slams, that also deserves so much respect.”
It is no secret that Murray’s main focus of the season is Wimbledon, and record eight-time champion Federer has wished him well ahead of the grass court major.
“So I’m a big fan of Andy’s as well and I wish him all the best for Wimbledon as that’s his best surface in my mind, especially nowadays,” added Federer. “So I hope he wins many, many rounds at Wimbledon in a couple of weeks.”
Murray will hope to continue his great start to the grass court season later today, when he plays Federer’s young countrymen Dominic Stricker in the quarter-final of the Nottingham Challenger.
Andy Murray at Wimbledon
Murray famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a home men’s singles champion in 2013, having lost in the final the year prior to the aforementioned Federer, and went onto win the title again in 2016.
Despite his ambitions to challenge once again in 2023, Murray fell to his worst performance at The Championships last year when he lost in the second round to John Isner.
Here is Murray’s record at Wimbledon over the years:
Win-loss record: 60-12 (83%)
2005 – Third Round
2006 – Fourth Round
2008 – Quarter-final
2009 – Semi-final
2010 – Semi-final
2011 – Semi-final
2012 – Final
2013 – Champion
2014 – Quarter-final
2015 – Semi-final
2016 – Champion
2017 – Quarter-final
2021 – Third Round
2022 – Second Round
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