Andy Murray ‘the only one at the same level’ as the big three claims Rafael Nadal
Andy Murray has been labelled as an ‘amazing player’ by former rival Rafael Nadal, who claims the Brit is the only player to have reached the same level as ‘the big three’.
Murray recently revealed that 2024 is likely to be the final season of his career, something that Nadal has also implied will be the case for himself.
However, the Scot suffered a setback at the Miami Open back in March, after damaging ligaments in his left ankle in the latter stages of his third round match against Tomas Machac.
There were doubts over whether Murray would be able to compete at Roland Garros and possibly even the grass court season, but the 36-year-old has answered those doubts after entering upcoming clay court warm-up tournaments in Bordeaux and Geneva.
Back in Bordeaux ???? @andy_murray
Andy will make his return from injury next week on the @ATPChallenger tour pic.twitter.com/YNYdQMAOLI
— LTA (@the_LTA) May 10, 2024
And Nadal has praised Murray for his achievements over the years, when speaking to press in Rome, “I don’t like to say he deserved more or less, because at the end it’s just like, if I say I deserve more, if I didn’t have injuries. No, I don’t, because I had the injuries.”
The Spaniard continued, “He had a lot of finals. He was an amazing player that probably played in a difficult moment of the history of tennis, because, he shared the tour at the prime time of Novak, Roger and myself. And he was, in my feeling, the one that he was at the same level than us, in general terms.
“Then, in terms of victories, it’s true that he achieved less, but in terms of level of tennis, in terms of holding mentally, the winning spirit week after week… He was the only one that was very close to, to be at the same level as us.”
Rafa Nadal on Andy Murray ahead of his retirement
“I don’t like to say he deserved more or less, because at the end it’s just like I I say I deserve more if I didn’t have injuries. He was an amazing player that played in a difficult moment of the history of????….”
????: ATP Media pic.twitter.com/WUK1xg8qe0
— TennisONE App (@TennisONEApp) May 9, 2024
Murray will begin both his comeback and clay court season at the Bordeaux Challenger event next week, after receiving a wildcard for the tournament.
Inside the baseline…
While ‘the big three’ and sometimes ‘the big four’ with Andy Murray were the fiercest of rivals, it has always been clear how much respect they have for eachother. Although Murray is not the only player to take major titles off Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, he is the player to have brought the most challenges to them week in and week out on the ATP Tour and at the majors.
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