The career of Andy Murray in stats
Here Tennishead looks back at some of the defining records held by former world number one and three-time Slam champion Andy Murray.
5. Unlucky Down Under – Australian Open runner-up five times
This stat truly epitomises just how hard Murray has had to work for his status as part of the ‘Big Four’ alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Murray first reached the Australian open final in 2010 at the age of 23, facing Federer there and losing in straight sets. He made it to the championship match again the following year, this time losing to Djokovic, again in straight sets.
In 2013 Murray conquered Federer in the semi-finals but then fell to Djokovic in the final. 2015, loss to Djokovic, 2016, loss to Djokovic. Of the 11 Slam finals that Murray has reached, three have come against Federer and seven against Djokovic, with only one coming against anyone else, Milos Raonic in the 2016 Wimbledon final.
4. Masters 1000 titles – 14
While not as impressive as the unprecedented 37 and 36 Masters titles of Djokovic and Nadal, and still back from Federer’s 28, Murray has an impressive tally of 14 titles at Masters 1000 level.
His first triumph came in 2008 at the age of 21 when the Brit won the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Djokovic in the final there. He won Shanghai immediately after, the Chinese Masters being a tournament Murray would win three more times, his most successful Masters event.
Murray has reached the final of every Masters event except Monte Carlo, and has not won there or at Indian Wells. He has two Miami Open titles, one in Madrid, one in Rome, three in Canada, two in Cincinnati, four in Shanghai and one in Paris.
3. Time spent as world number one – 41
Since Federer first claimed the crown of world number one on 2nd February 2004, only four men have topped the ATP rankings. For more than 17 years in that period it was one of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal.
However, for a brief period from late 2016 into 2017, Murray added his name as only the fourth different world number one since 2004. After winning the Rome Masters in May 2016, Murray overtook Federer to become world number two, but still trailed Djokovic by nearly 8,000 points in the rankings.
Murray then reached the Roland Garros final and won Queen’s and Wimbledon soon after. Following that third Slam triumph he reached the final of the Cincinnati Masters and won the Shanghai Masters, bringing him within 2,500 points behind Djokovic.
Murray then won Vienna and the Paris Masters to overtake Djokovic and clinch the number one ranking for the first time in his career, consolidating his position and the year-end number one crown by defeating Djokovic at the ATP Finals.
After suffering injury during Wimbledon 2017, Murray was dethroned from the top spot by Nadal on 21st August that year.
2. Back-to-back Olympic singles gold – 2012 and 2016
The London 2012 Olympics has been cited by some as the turning point for Andy Murray. As mentioned earlier, the Brit had suffered a heartbreaking loss to Federer in the Wimbledon final in July 2012. Less than a month later the Olympics arrived in the British capital, and competitors took to the Wimbledon grass once more.
Murray reached the semi-final to face familiar foe Djokovic, defeating the Serb 7-5, 7-5 to guarantee himself a medal. Then, just under a month since meeting in the Wimbledon final, Murray faced Federer again, this time for Olympic gold.
Murray triumphed in straight sets, riding that momentum to win his first Slam title a little over a month later at the 2012 US Open.
Four years on an in the middle of his 2016 push for world number one, Murray came into the Rio Olympics as defending Olympic singles champion. After downing Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals Murray had guaranteed at least a silver to back up his London gold as he face Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro for the gold medal.
Murray won again to become the only player, man or woman, to claim double Olympic singles gold and the only player to win back-to-back Olympic singles gold.
1. Slam titles – 3
In an era dominated by Federer, Djokovic and Nadal with at least 20 Major titles each, it is a wonder that anyone else could get more than one title of their own.
Of the last 75 Major tournaments since Federer won his first Wimbledon in 2003, 62 have been won by Federer, Djokovic or Nadal, with seven players winning one Slam each. Only two men besides the ‘Big Three’ have won multiple Slams in that time. They are Stan Wawrinka, who won the Australian Open in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015 and the US Open in 2016, and Murray, who won the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016.
As mentioned earlier, Murray contested 10 of his 11 Slam final appearances to date against either Federer or Djokovic, triumphing twice against the Serb but never against Federer.
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