British tennis player Andy Murray bid an emotional farewell to Wimbledon on Thursday. Murray and his brother Jamie were defeated by Australians John Peers and Rinky Hijikata in the men’s doubles opening round. Novak Djokovic was there to honour Murray’s accomplishments.
A lot of players, both current and former, gathered on centre court to honour Murray’s career, including Djokovic. Australian champion Lleyton Hewitt was also present, and as Murray walked off, he gave longtime opponent Djokovic a heartfelt hug.
Djokovic stated his remarks about Murray and said: “The first time I met Andy, I was 12. We go a very long way back. We were never too close on the tour because it’s difficult as rivals. But we always had tremendous respect for each other. I think we only have a 1-week difference in age. So our trajectory on the professional tour is pretty similar. Not much was separating our careers. We played some incredible matches all over the world. Finals of different grand slams—all grand slams, actually.”
He added: “I think he could be the only player I’ve faced in all 4 finals of the Slams. Maybe Rafa as well; I’m not sure. But he’s definitely one of the three guys other than Roger and Rafa who have impacted my career and my growth as a tennis player. If this is his last match, it’s sad that he’s not able to finish on his own terms in singles. But he’s playing alongside his brother. It’s probably even more emotional for everyone—for him, for friends, for family, for this tournament, and for tennis in general. I wish him all the best in his farewell. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to come back again. He’s an incredible competitor. Resilience means that you can definitely study and teach young athletes.”
Get you someone who looks at you the way Iga looks at Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic hugging pic.twitter.com/mPnr5eWlMk
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 5, 2024
Djokovic in Wimbledon, ranking, and results in 2024
WWWWWWWLWW Ranked world no.2, Novak achieved a 20-6 win-loss record in 2024. Djokovic is now having a run in Wimbledon where he toppled the world no.123 Vit Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2 and the world no.277 Jacob Fearnley 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5.
Novak Djokovic will fight against the world no.47 Alexei Popyrin in the 3rd round. Their record is 2-0 for Djokovic.
Djokovic won 98 titles in his career: 52 on hard courts, 19 on clay courts, 19 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Djokovic is scheduled to play next in Montreal (National Bank Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 5th of August.
Andy Murray in 2024
LWLLLLWLWW Ranked no.113, Andy played his last match on the 19th of June when he had to retire when playing against world no.40 Jordan Thompson in the 2nd round and the scoreline was 4-1 .
This season the Brit has an overall 7-13 match record.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray clashed against each other 36 times. Their current head to head is 25-11 for Djokovic. Before, the last time they squared off, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 5-7 6-4 in the final in Doha (Qatar ExxonMobil Open) in January 2017.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray |
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