Andy Murray’s decision to retire from tennis this year’s ends a career that has helped rejuvenate and revive British tennis in recent time.
As a member of the so called Big Four, Murray has claimed 45 ATP titles since his first triumph at the 2006 Pacific Coast Championships. An achievement that places him 14th on the all-time list for most trophies won on the tour in the Open Era. Against top 10 opposition, the Brit has recorded 101 wins. The first was against Andy Roddick at the 2006 San Jose Open and the last was against Kei Nishikori in the 2017 French Open.
Arguably the greatest achievement of Murray’s career occurred in July 2013 when he defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets at the Wimbledon Championships. Becoming the first British man to win the title for 77 years. That final drew a national TV audience of 17.3 Million and became the most discussed Facebook topic in the UK that year, according to atpworldtour.com.
“I think when I step back over the next couple of days, and sort of relax and think about what I did today I’ll realize it was a big day in our sporting history,” Murray told CNN shortly after his triumph.
Murray has been a trailblazer in British tennis with him being considered as the greatest ever tennis player from the country. He is the first and so far only British player to become world No.1 in the ATP rankings. A position he held for 41 weeks between 2016-2017. In 2016 he became the first British man to reach a French Open final in the Open era. The last to do so was Bunny Austin back in 1937.
At the Olympic Games, Murray was the first player in history to defend a title. At the 2012 Games in London, he downed Roger Federer in straight sets to win the gold medal. Then four years later, Murray claimed another gold medal in the singles when he edged out Juan Martin del Potro in a four set thriller.
In the Davis Cup, he was the driving force behind his country winning the tournament for the first time in 79 years back in 2015. During that season, he contributed to 11 out of the 12 winning rubber’s for Great Britain in their world Group campaign. He achieved a perfect 8-0 record in ‘live’ singles rubbers alone. Something that had never previously been achieved before.
Murray is also one of only ten players in the Open Era to feature in all four grand slam finals at least once. He has featured in 11 major finals – five at the Australian Open, three at Wimbledon, two at the US Open and one at the French Open.
His contribution to the sport has earned him a knighthood. Giving his the right to be called ‘Sir Andy Murray’ from the age of 30. At the time he was known as the youngest knight in living memory. His achievements have also resulted in him winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year three times. Becoming the only athlete is history to win the award a trio of times since it was introduced back in 1954.
Murray’s career in numbers
$61,055,135 – career prize money, not counting endorsements (as of 11/1/2019)
67 – number of ATP finals played
45 – ATP titles won
- 3 grand slams
- 1 season-ending ATP Finals
- 14 Masters 1000
- 2 Olympic Golds
- 9 ATP 500
- 16 ATP 250
41 – weeks spend as world No.1
29 – combined number of wins Murray has scored over Roger Federer (11), Novak Djokovic (11), and Rafael Nadal (7).
3 – grand slam titles – Wimbledon 2013, 2016 and US Open 2012
1 – Davis Cup title
