Andy Murray is the only member outside of the Big Three to have clinched the No.1 spot over the past decade but when he was younger there was another player who he found difficult to deal with.
In a wide ranging interview with The Guardian, Murray opened up about the only player who he says he has ever been intimidated by. Instead of naming rivals such as Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic, the three-time champion said his nemesis was Russia’s Marat Safin based on his encounters he has with him at a young age.
“The only player I was intimidated by – and I don’t know why, exactly – was Marat Safin. I played him when I was young at Cincinnati, in 2005. Sometimes I’d speak to him and he’d be nice, and sometimes – I don’t know whether he didn’t like me or not – I found it a bit tricky,” said Murray.
The showdown in Cincinnati was the only time the two have locked horns on the Tour before Safin retired from the sport in 2009. Also a former world No.1, Safin won 15 ATP titles including the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open. He is one of only two Russian players to have topped the ATP rankings along with Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Reminiscing about his career so far, the 33-year-old says he is rarely bothered by negative comments made about him. Although he remembers one incident with a member of the public that did upset him. It took place back in 2011 following his exit from the Wimbledon Championships. In the semi-finals he took the first set against Rafael Nadal before losing in four.
“People have said some terrible things to me, but I don’t let it bother me. But there was one time. I had just lost in the semis at Wimbledon and was walking down the street with my wife. Some guys drove past and screamed, “You fucking loser!” It was a period in my career where I was already doubting myself. I found it hurtful,” he reflected.
A year after that incident, Murray won his first of three major titles at the US Open before going on to win back-to-back Olympic Gold medals and climbing to world No.1.
Branding himself as a ‘realist,’ Murray says there is no guarantee that Federer will be the first to retire out of the Big Four due to his age.
“I’d say Federer. He’s 39. But who knows? If something happened to my hip, for instance, I couldn’t do anything about it,” he concluded.
Murray, who has undergone two hip surgeries, is currently ranked 115th in the world. So far this season he has achieved a win-loss record of 3-3. He will return to action at the Bett1Hulks Championships next week where he will play Serbia’s Danilo Petrović in the first round.
