Andy Murray's 500 wins - your pick?

So it's a bit of arbitrary milestone and doesn't exactly threaten the all time record on match wins, nevertheless, given that at the start of a career as a tennis professional even one single win can't be taken for granted, it is a very nice milestone to achieve so congratulations to Murray  

The Brit press has a few articles about significant or favourite wins; Mike Dickson's here for example: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-3018758/Andy-Murray-s-magical-milestone-moments-career-stats-British-ace.html

So which of the 500 wins is your favourite Murray match? If you're a big supporter, you may pick one of his 3 biggest final wins, if not, maybe his best performance, or the time he beat your least favourite player ..... or if the positive sentiment of the last few days is all too much for you, you can even pick your favourite of the 155 losses!

My pick is actually not just about Murray, but a match that came at the end of a memorable 3 days in the first week at Wimbledon 2012. On the Thursday, Nadal went out to Rosol in an exciting 5 setter ending well into the evening. On the Friday, Federer came back from the brink to beat Benneteau in an exciting 5 setter ending well into the evening. Last on court on Saturday was Murray-Baghdatis. Would this be a more straightforward encounter? Well, no, the match had its share of twists and turns. Murray took a tight first set, before Baghdatis fought back to level before fading light forced a delay to close the roof. Murray returned with his knee strapped after a fall and Baghdatis was able to force a break early on, before Murray broke back and even amid the distractions of balls falling out of his pockets, managed to take the third. The fourth set was all Murray, but in a final twist, he had to beat the clock as much as Baghdatis as the 11pm curfew loomed. Murray upped the aggression and Baghdatis faded and the match was finally won at 11:02pm. Tennis fans had not only been treated to 3 exciting night matches in a row and but saved from John Inverdale on Today at Wimbledon 3 times. Happy days!

My other question tangentially related to this subject is - how much did Tim Henman hate playing tennis at the point he retired that he couldn't play on for a few more weeks to reach the 500 milestone?! Again, it is indeed only a number, but surely it was worth reaching. I don't remember him being injured. Did he just pick a specific tournament to bow out at? I expect Julius or HenmanBill can enlighten me.

I don't want to be a party pooper but some of my favourite performances from him actually ended in losses:

v Rafa at Australian Open 2007
v Rafa at Monte Carlo 2011
v Rafa at WTF 2010

He played some lovely tennis in those matches.

A 'revenge' victory v Rafa is probably one of his best wins - Tokyo 2011, which included a final set bagel.

I'm judging by performance here. For status, of course Wimbledon is top.

His match against Nadal in Rome last was also great stuff too.

Henmans back was in pretty bad shape by that point, plus if he wanted to retire at wimbledon he would have had to have played a whole year more after the DC.

Murrays best 3 matches bar the three obvious ones

vs Rafa at us open 2008
Gasquet at the French 1st round, I think 2011
Vs Roddick at queens 2011

Aussie Open 2007 vs Nadal was the match he made a proper believer out of me, still wasn't sold on his quality up until that point despite enjoying his variety.

US Open 2008 SF vs Nadal, his big breakthrough I will never forget, it was the moment he became part of the 'big 4' and never really looked back.

Shanghai 2010 F vs Federer, he destroyed Federer that day. He was incredible

Another one for Aus 2007 here, that was one hell of a match at that stage of his career. Also from early in his career, I'll never forget him being two points away from beating Johansson at Queens, only to cramp up massively and being unable to finish the job. Similar thing happened at Wimbledon against Nalbandian (same year?), two sets up and doing brilliantly but his stamina - understandable given his youth - scuppered him. Tremendous fight in both those matches and huge amounts of quality against experienced opponents.

He fought very well against Nadal at RG one year, can't remember which. I remember thinking he was unlucky to lose in straights, his performance was excellent.

Shanghai 2010 was phenomenal, an absolute demolition job.

London Olympics - dominated Novak in the SF, got revenge on Federer in spectacular fashion.

His interview in defeat after Wimbledon 2012 was what ultimately sold me on him, the emotion of the occasion was really something. I was truly gutted for him, even though I was supporting Federer - to the point where I was heavily rooting for Murray in the Olympic final one month later.

500 wins is a brilliant accomplishment, hopefully many more to come. 9th active player, and 43rd overall to reach the landmark

Glad the USO 08 semi has been mentioned. Some of the best attacking play I've seen from Murray.
Best comeback may have been that five-setter at Wimbledon with Gasquet when he was outplayed for two-and-three-quarter sets but managed to find a way to win.
Incidentally Murray considers his hardest match physically was the AO semi five-hour defeat to Djoko in 2012. Reckoned he could hardly walk for four days after that and wondered how Djoko was able to beat Rafa in the near-six hour final that followed.

Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Temp 21. That Olympic final. I think Fed didn't win a single game for about an hour - and he wasn't even playing that badly ! Yes, a terrific performance.
I was always disappointed that Henman didn't quite chalk up the 500th. In his last singles match he was blown away by a rampant J-W T and Tim said afterwards that he didn't regret packing it in if this was the sort of power game he was going to face!

temporary21 wrote:Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Andy played very well indeed that day but I do think we should keep in mind that Federer had gone 19-17 in the final set against JMDP two days before.

That doesn't detract from Andy's performance but I think it definitely contributed to the one-sided nature of the match.

One of my all time favourites has to be last year?? (time flies) when he beat Tommy Robredo in the final in Valencia... what a match.. incredible

Two early wins stand out. Murray took Stepanek, then the 13th seed, apart at Wimbledon in 05 and then smashed twice-former runner-up Roddick in straight sets the following year. It was clear the boy was going to be a star.

trying to think of some more obscure ones...

vs Gasquet 2008 Wimbledon 4R - finally showed some metal to go a long with the talent

vs Roddick 2006 Wimbledon R3 - cast aside Roddick in straight sets who had been in the two previous finals at 19

vs Federer 2012 Shanghai SF - he was swatting one of the best serves the game has ever seen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/32141114 great article by the BBC going through his career spanning the 500 wins, was surprised to see he's hit so many more double faults compared to aces!

CAS wrote:vs Federer 2012 Shanghai SF - he was swatting one of the best serves the game has ever seen

I remember that match, Federer's serve was under such gigantic pressure that he DF'd three times in a row to concede a game from 0-15 down. Federer? 3 DFs? He goes entire tournaments without hitting three, let alone in one game. Murray was all over him that day, awesome returning. He really had Fed's number at Shanghai down the years.

That 2005 Wimbledon press conference on the BBC is adorable, he looks so young!

Silver wrote:

CAS wrote:vs Federer 2012 Shanghai SF - he was swatting one of the best serves the game has ever seen

I remember that match, Federer's serve was under such gigantic pressure that he DF'd three times in a row to concede a game from 0-15 down. Federer? 3 DFs? He goes entire tournaments without hitting three, let alone in one game. Murray was all over him that day, awesome returning. He really had Fed's number at Shanghai down the years.

That 2005 Wimbledon press conference on the BBC is adorable, he looks so young!

I can't believe Federer made the scoreline seem close as that was one of the most comprehensive 6-4 6-4 score lines I've seen. That incredible break point early in the second set too, showing what Federer had to do just stay near Andy.

HM Murdoch wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Andy played very well indeed that day but I do think we should keep in mind that Federer had gone 19-17 in the final set against JMDP two days before.

That doesn't detract from Andy's performance but I think it definitely contributed to the one-sided nature of the match.

In a 3 set match on grass. I don't buy that argument at all. I suspect if anything Fed was slightly inhibited by nerves rather than any tiredness. Murray had more reason to be mentally gone having spent most of the previous day playing in the mixed doubles.

Born Slippy wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Andy played very well indeed that day but I do think we should keep in mind that Federer had gone 19-17 in the final set against JMDP two days before.

That doesn't detract from Andy's performance but I think it definitely contributed to the one-sided nature of the match.

In a 3 set match on grass. I don't buy that argument at all. I suspect if anything Fed was slightly inhibited by nerves rather than any tiredness. Murray had more reason to be mentally gone having spent most of the previous day playing in the mixed doubles.

I don't think mixed double took a lot out of Murray mentally or physically to be honest.
As for Federer 3 setter, true it was a 3 setter, but the third set was 36 games long, which in itself is more than 3 normal sets of tennis.

a 4.5 hr 3 set match is more taxing than the equivalent 5 setter because of the tension of such long deciding set.

favourite murray match when rafa thrashed him at French open.

Born Slippy wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Andy played very well indeed that day but I do think we should keep in mind that Federer had gone 19-17 in the final set against JMDP two days before.

That doesn't detract from Andy's performance but I think it definitely contributed to the one-sided nature of the match.

In a 3 set match on grass. I don't buy that argument at all. I suspect if anything Fed was slightly inhibit'ed by nerves rather than any tiredness. Murray had more reason to be mentally gone having spent most of the previous day playing in the mixed doubles.

3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17. At 4 hours, 26 minutes, it was the longest three-set men's match of the Open era. Just a 3 set match on grass though

Born Slippy wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Andy played very well indeed that day but I do think we should keep in mind that Federer had gone 19-17 in the final set against JMDP two days before.

That doesn't detract from Andy's performance but I think it definitely contributed to the one-sided nature of the match.

In a 3 set match on grass. I don't buy that argument at all. I suspect if anything Fed was slightly inhibited by nerves rather than any tiredness. Murray had more reason to be mentally gone having spent most of the previous day playing in the mixed doubles.

that's the dummest thing ive ever read

sirfredperry wrote:Glad the USO 08 semi has been mentioned. Some of the best attacking play I've seen from Murray.
  Best comeback may have been that five-setter at Wimbledon with Gasquet when he was outplayed for two-and-three-quarter sets but managed to find a way to win.
  Incidentally Murray considers his hardest match physically was the AO semi five-hour defeat to Djoko in 2012. Reckoned he could hardly walk for four days after that and wondered how Djoko was able to beat Rafa in the near-six hour final that followed.
   

do you have the article or quote from Andy talking about that? Would be interested to have a read (about the Aus'12 match)

Murray vs Raonic US Open '12 R16 was some of the best tennis I've ever seen Andy play, he was hitting ridiculous angles and the variety completely flummoxed Milos. He was almost laughing

CAS wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:Glad the USO 08 semi has been mentioned. Some of the best attacking play I've seen from Murray.
  Best comeback may have been that five-setter at Wimbledon with Gasquet when he was outplayed for two-and-three-quarter sets but managed to find a way to win.
  Incidentally Murray considers his hardest match physically was the AO semi five-hour defeat to Djoko in 2012. Reckoned he could hardly walk for four days after that and wondered how Djoko was able to beat Rafa in the near-six hour final that followed.
   

do you have the article or quote from Andy talking about that? Would be interested to have a read (about the Aus'12 match)

CAS, I don't know if this is what sirfred is referring to but I saw him say something similar in a press conference at AO this year:

Q. Do you have any thoughts on the fairness of that? Do you believe semifinals should be played on the same day?
ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I do, yeah. You want the players all to have the same opportunity. But, I mean, I was told that the player that's played the second semifinal I think has won like five or six of the last seven years, so I don't know exactly who it favors more. Obviously if you have an extremely long match you would think the person that had the extra day's rest, it would favor them. But a couple years Novak recovered from -- I don't know how he did it, because I played against him in the semifinal and I could barely walk a couple days later. But he recovered from a five-hour match and then won the final in six hours. I don't really know who it favors, to be honest.

CAS wrote:

Born Slippy wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Also should mention the olympic final. To go from such disappointment to completely humiliating the same opponent on the same court so soon was immense.

Andy played very well indeed that day but I do think we should keep in mind that Federer had gone 19-17 in the final set against JMDP two days before.

That doesn't detract from Andy's performance but I think it definitely contributed to the one-sided nature of the match.

In a 3 set match on grass. I don't buy that argument at all. I suspect if anything Fed was slightly inhibit'ed by nerves rather than any tiredness. Murray had more reason to be mentally gone having spent most of the previous day playing in the mixed doubles.

3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17. At 4 hours, 26 minutes, it was the longest three-set men's match of the Open era. Just a 3 set match on grass though

I don't recall using the word "just". It was clearly a very long 3 set match but it was not a long 5 set match. It was the equivalent of a standard 5 set match and at that time, with a days rest, I dont think Fed would have struggled to recover. He just ran into Murray playing his best tennis.

Any of them where he beats Djoko.

Muzz was perfect in that Olympic final, it didnt last very long so I dont buy the Federer knackered bit at all. Fed played alright, he wasnt slow just completely done over by Murrays best ever effort in a big final.
The fact hes had so many great matches and moments against some of the best ever, must absolutely infuriate people who dont like him, because lets be frank hes not the best of his time, more of a Safin than a Federer, but hes magic when hes on.

Sorry I disagree B_S, a match equivalent to 5 setter would have taken a lot out of Federer at that age, and he seemed flat in the final against Murray.

I think Federer also spoke about after he suffered an emotional hangover too, he said he had tears in his eyes after the Del Potro match like he had won it already so the final he was very flat.

Which was of course the only reason Murray won, not because he played a blinder against someone not strong enough at the time to match him...

Found it! Federer after the Olympic loss:

"Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure. I'm feeling somewhat fine. I think it was maybe more emotionally potentially because, God, I had tears in my eyes after my first‑round match, believe it or not. Doing media I think on court it was. I almost broke down."

"Maybe there was so much emotion already out of me that potentially today that kind of hindered me from playing my absolute very best. But then again, that's just trying to come up with some excuses."

So erm nerves as I said initially then?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/32089235

I know this is a discussion forum so the point is discussion, but I didn't really intend to start a thread to go over the asterisks over any of Murray's wins.

If someone's favourite match is the one where he got lucky with wind/tired opponent/opponent who was thinking about a previous loss then that's their favourite match.

Anyway, it seems most people's favourite match of his is a loss

(For what it's worth, I think Federer did have an emotional hangover from scraping through that semi final, but if he'd faced a less inspired opponent, he could easily have found himself re-energised).

Enjoyed that 2005 interview on the BBC site someone mentioned: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/32089235
A reminder of how Muzz played at 18, how more relaxed he seemed with the press - and how John Inverdale has never in all his year in tennis journalism understood the difference between a game and a match

Bit of both but Murray was too good that day. Simple.

Thanks for the info on Henman, temp & SFP. I didn't have any recollection of the specifics of his retirement, just that he stopped. Makes sense that he fixed on the DC at Wimbledon to finish and shame he just couldn't get that those extra few wins in the run up to that.

I've never seen the Aus Open 2007 match so must look it up sometime. Aus Open 2010 against Rafa was another great performance from Murray - albeit Rafa retired injured in the third set so we never got to see if Murray would have held his nerve through the end. He was so composed and focused though - that was the match that made me think he could actually win a slam final - funny thing being that in my opinion, in the 2 finals he did win, he was nowhere near that level of mental composure (even with Lendl in the box).

Born Slippy wrote:So erm nerves as I said initially then?

he also mentioned he didn't have quite the spring in the legs, just wanted to find what he said about being emotionally drained.^

I don't think it was nerves, it was hardly his biggest final he'd ever played. Murray did play incredibly, I just think the score was a bit harsh because of other factors. I was more impressed with his win over Novak the round before, and it's a match up I would love to see again (on grass).

his best shot?

I believe that this is still officially the second fastest forehand ever (I stand to be corrected though):

Congratulations to Andy on joining the 500 wins club and yes it is quite an exclusive club. As for his best wins of his career it is very hard to say. Ones that stick in the mind are Andy's win over Rafa at the US Open in 2008 as it really marked his arrival on the big stage. Obviously, his Wimbledon win springs out as does his Olympic Gold win which was a great comeback following defeat on the same court to the same opponent a few weeks earlier that had left him distraught and you always feel that win gave him the real belief he could win a slam one day - something you felt was lacking up until then.

Far too many to mention

For instance the Roanic US Open win is a very good shout that I'd forgotten about

Another one was a similar demolition job of Taylor Dent at US09'. Hostile American crowd and Murray drops just 7 games!!

His 2010 Masters win against Rafa, was also vintage - the one at Canada

But his Wimbledon Olympic victory was the best and I think it's wrong of people to suggest that a fitter Roger would have won. Not least because fitness is one of the main in Tennis victories. Murray was simply unplayable that day

Two wins against Novak are my other two, Miami final of 2009 (love his quip about it been nice if his three rivals would let him win a slam now) and probably his best match the SF at the Olympics

But really as I said, too many to mention

A couple that haven't been mentioned but I thought were good matches :

Del Potro USO 2008. Billed as a grudge match due to their fall out at Rome earlier in the year. Was a very close 4 setter in which each player won the others respect. I've always liked Delpo since then.

Gasquet FO 2012. Lost first set 6-1 and had the crowd heckling him when he showed some signs of discomfort in his back. Remember him just smiling and then going on to demolish Gasquet in the next three sets.

The drama of his match against Verdasco Wimbledon 2013 was pretty incredible, but his best performance in that tournament was the final vs Djokovic. That was unbelievable considering the pressure he was under.

Best performances imo:
1) Shanghai '10 vs feds
2) vs rafa us 08
3) Tokyo '11 vs rafa
4) Olympic gold
5) wtf '10 vs rafa
6) aus '12 vs rafa

Ones I most enjoyed:
1) vs rafa aus 07
2) vs llodra '12 aus

His three biggest final matches are obvious choices, so I won't go for those.

V Nalbandian at that first Wimbledon. Ok he lost, but for 2 sets this scrawny kid toyed with one of the best players in the world. it was clear he was a natural and a top 20 player at least.

His first masters title in 08 vs Novak was great. Two tie breaks I believe. A huge mental step. That summer was the first time a really talented player started to emerge into a top athlete.

AO semi defeat v Novak 2012. Ok he lost, but by a fraction. Finally he had turned up to a big match. A defeat that felt like a victory.

OG semi v Novak. Unbelievably high standard in this match. He actually played even better in this one than the final. He had to because Novak played very well too.

If Murray plays attacking and tactical tennis, I prefer it over the interminable rallies. I see H-n has already mentioned the match v Robredo @Valencia.

The WTF 2010 was close.

USO 2008 was a bit of let down, after taking Nadal out. The way Federer v Murray is under the microscope for Federer being tired, the same can be said for Murray against Federer at USO 2008 final, even though Federer was playing some wonderful tennis.

This was also a good (albeit long) match.