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Tennis Top 10: Greatest Andy Murray Career Moments


Andy Murray has made history on numerous occasions throughout his illustrious career, but which of his many iconic moments ranks at the top?

Join us, at Tennishead, as we go through our top 10 Andy Murray career moments:

10: First ATP title since hip surgery (2019)

We begin this list with the most recent moment, dating back to 2019 when Murray won his last ATP Tour title.

Injuries have dominated the Brit’s career in recent memory, having undergone two potentially career-ending hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019.

Murray had implied that the 2019 Australian Open could potentially be his final tournament, with there even being a video montage from numerous tennis legends paying tribute to the five-time finalist after his first round exit to Roberto Bautista Agut.

Despite suggestions that his career could be nearing towards the end, Murray underwent successful hip resurfacing surgery and returned to the ATP Tour at Queen’s in doubles action alongside Feliciano Lopez.

The pair actually went onto win the tournament, but Murray did not return to singles action until the Cincinnati Masters where he lost his opening match to Richard Gasquet in straight sets.

He then went onto win a handful of singles matches before arriving at the European Open in Antwerp, which is an ATP 250 event.

Murray used his protected ranking to gain entry into the draw, and made a winning start against Belgian wildcard Kimmer Coppejans.

The then 32-year-old continued winning in Belgium, beating eighth seed Pablo Cuevas, qualifier Marius Copil and Frechman Ugo Humbert to reach his first ATP final since winning the 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships pre-surgery.

Murray faced fellow three-time Grand Slam champion and fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the final, and it was the Swiss that claimed the opening set, 6-3.

However, Murray fought back in characteristic fashion to beat Wawrinka, 3-6 6-4 6-4, to win the 46th ATP Tour title of his career.

And it came as no surprise when Murray was subsequently awarded ATP Comeback Player of the year for 2019.

Murray has not won a main ATP Tour title since this moment, but he has manage to reach the final of tournaments in Sydney, Stuttgart and Doha.

9: Winning first ATP title to become British No.1 (2006)

We now go from Murray’s most recent ATP title to his first, that dates all the way back to 2006 when he was only 18-years-old.

Murray had turned professional the year prior, and showed signs of his potential with a debut run to the third round at Wimbledon.

This potential became more evident in 2006 at the International Series event (now known as ATP 250) in San Jose, when a No.60 ranked Murray picked up his first top 10 win against world No.3 and top seed Andy Roddick to reach his second ATP Tour final, having lost in Bangkok the year before.

In this final, Murray met two-time singles Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt and fought back after losing the first set to win, 2-6 6-1 7-6(3).

With his first ATP title, Murray rose up the rankings and later on that month became British No.1 for the first time, ending Tim Henman’s seven-year run by doing so.

8: Winning Paris Masters to become world No.1 (2016)

In 2006, Murray became British No.1 for the first time and ten years later he was crowned the world No.1 after winning the Paris Masters.

This was Murray’s most successful season, claiming a total of nine titles, and he was rewarded for this in the French capital.

Ranked as world No.2 heading into the Masters 1000 event, Murray knew that if Novak Djokovic did not reach the final, he would be crowned world No.1 if he won the title.

Djokovic had won the Paris Masters title three times in a row, but could not make it four after being beaten in the quarter-final by 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.

As a result, Murray only had to win one more match after beating Tomas Berdych to reach the semi-finals.

However, he became world No.1 in quite an anti-climatic way after his semi-final opponent Milos Raonic withdrew before the start of the match, consequently giving Murray a walkover to the final.

Despite this, Murray capped his achievement off in style by beating John Isner, 6-3 6(4)-7 6-4, to win the 14th Masters 1000 title of his career.

7: Beating Novak Djokovic to win ATP Finals and secure status as year-end No.1 (2016)

Murray’s 2016 success did not stop at the Paris Masters, as he had the goal of winning his first ATP Finals title at the O2 in London to secure the status of being the year-end ATP No.1.

It was the ninth time that Murray had qualified as one of the top eight players from the year, and the Brit was part of Group John McEnroe that included Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic.

He went onto win all three of his round-robin matches, losing only one set to Nishikori to reach the semi-finals.

This is where he would play Milos Raonic in a gruelling three hour and 38 minute contest, the longest three set match in the tournament’s history.

Murray managed to beat the Canadian, 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(9), and saved a match point in the process to reach the final of the year-end for the first time in his career.

In the final, Murray would go head-to-head with the aforementioned Djokovic knowing that he needed to win to secure his status as year-end No.1.

And that is exactly what he did in front of a rawcus home crowd, Murray beat the Serb, 6-3 6-4, to win his 25th consecutive match and fifth title in a row.

6: Claiming home Olympic Gold and Silver (2012)

The London 2012 Olympics are a historic event in British history, and Murray played a big part in that by winning two medals.

Murray entered all three events at his second Olympic Games, with mixed doubles making its return after not being held at the Olympics since 1924.

The tennis event was held at the All England Club, which plays host to Wimbledon every year and was the venue where Murray suffered a heartbreaking final defeat to Roger Federer just a month prior.

However, Murray appeared to put that defeat behind him, making a strong start to his singles campaign and dropped only one set en route to the semi-finals where he would play Djokovic.

This meant that Murray had a 75% chance of a medal, and the home favourite guaranteed that he would be receiving at least a silver after beating the second seed, 7-5 7-5.

In the final Murray would play the aforementioned Federer, with the Scot seeking revenge at the biggest sporting event of them all.

And revenge was what he got by beating the top seed in straight sets, 6-2 6-1 6-4, to become the first British tennis medallist at the Olympics since 1920.

In the mixed doubles event, Murray partnered Laura Robson as a wildcard entry and came through three tightly contested matches to reach the final.

The final was also a tight contest, but this time Murray and Robson came out on the wrong side of the result, losing to top seeds Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi, 6-2 3-6 8-10.

Despite this defeat, they were still awarded a silver medal and therefore Murray became only the seventh man (now eight) in the Open Era to win two tennis medals at a single Olympic Games.

Murray did not find so much success in the men’s doubles event alongside brother Jamie, losing in the first round to the Austrian pairing of Jurgen Melzer and Alexander Peya.

5: Maiden Grand Slam Triumph in New York (2012)

Using his Olympic triumph to fuel him, Murray arrived at the US Open in confident fashion and was gearing up to win his first major title.

The 2008 finalist came in as the third seed and made a strong start, beating Aleksandr Bogomolov and Ivan Dodig in comfortable fashion.

Murray then beat 30th seed Feliciano Lopez in a tight four set match, before defeating 15th seed Raonic to reach his third quarter-final at the New York major.

In this match Murray would play 12th seed Marin Cilic, and found himself a set and a double break down before fighting back to win in four sets.

He would have expected to meet top seed Federer in this semi-final, but the Swiss was beaten by Tomas Berdych setting up a golden opportunity for both players.

Murray came out on top, beating the Czech, 5-7 6-2 6-1 7-6(7), to reach his second successive Grand Slam final.

Djokovic would be the opponent for Murray in this final, and the Brit actually lead by two-sets-to-love before being pegged back to two sets apiece.

Despite Djokovic having the momentum, Murray managed to turn things back around and triumphed to a, 7-6(10) 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2, victory lasting four hours and 54 minutes (the joint longest US Open final).

By claiming his maiden Grand Slam title, Murray became the first British man to win a major singles title since Fred Perry in 1936 and the first Scottish-born Grand Slam champion since Harold Mahony in 1896.

4: Second Wimbledon title (2016)

As we head towards the summit of the list, it is a return back to Murray’s incredible 2016 season where he won his second title at SW19.

After reuniting with former No.1 Ivan Lendl, Murray won a record fifth title at Queen’s Club in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

The home favourite was the second seed at The Championships and began his campaign in impressive fashion, winning through all of his first four rounds in straight sets.

This was in complete contrast to his quarter-final contest with 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, coming from two-sets-to-one down to beat the Frenchman, 7-6(10) 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-1.

Murray was the favourite at this stage in the competition, with world No.1 and defending champion Djokovic suffering a shock defeat in the third round to Sam Querrey.

And he managed to cope with that pressure in impressive fashion, beating Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic in straight sets to lift his second Wimbledon title.

3: Leading Great Britain to first Davis Cup crown in 79 years

Tennis is often a very individual sport, but Murray’s biggest moment in 2015 came for Great Britain in the Davis Cup.

Great Britain were nine-time Davis Cup champions at the time, but were without a title since 1936 and had only returned to the World Group in 2014 after a five-year hiatus.

Captained by Leon Smith, Great Britain began their campaign against the United States of America and Andy Murray lead his country to a 3-2 victory in his home of Glasgow alongside James Ward, Dominic Inglot and brother Jamie Murray.

Moving onto the quarter-finals, Andy and Jamie Murray, alongside James Ward, combined to beat France 3-1 and move Great Britain onto the semi-finals for the first time since 1981.

Captain Smith brought in Dan Evans for the semi-final against 28-time champions Australia, where Andy Murray went onto win two singles and a doubles rubber with brother Jamie again to send Great Britain into the Davis Cup final.

Their opponents were second-time finalists Belgium, who were lead by top 20 player David Goffin, with Great Britain the away side on the indoor clay of Ghent.

Belgium took the lead after the aforementioned Goffin outlasted Kyle Edmund in a five-set battle, leaving the Brits with it all to do.

However, it was Andy Murray again who provided the goods for his nation, beat Ruben Bemelmans in singles and found success with his brother in doubles once again to leave Great Britain one match away from glory.

And glory was provided on Sunday 29th November 2015, when Murray beat Goffin with a iconic lob to claim Great Britain’s 10th Davis Cup crown.

Murray won all of his rubbers throughout the tournament, and became only the third man to win all eight of his singles rubbers alongside tennis legends John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.

2: Retaining Olympic title (2016)

As you have scrolled through this list, you have probably realised that 2016 and representing Great Britain was when Murray excelled and that was optimised at the Rio Olympics.

Coming in as the defending champion from the London Games, Murray knew that he had the chance to make history on the hard courts of Brazil.

And the second seed managed to put himself in an opportunity to win a medal, after beating Viktor Troicki, Juan Monaco, Fabio Fognini and coming through an extremely tight battle with Steve Johnson to reach the semi-finals.

In this semi-final, Murray beat Kei Nishikori, 6-1 6-4, to put himself in the gold medal match for a second consecutive Olympic Games.

Murray would play 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the final, who had beaten top seed Djokovic in the first round and had also won a singles medal in 2012 (bronze).

It was a classic and very emotional Olympic final, with Murray coming on top against the Argentine, winning 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5.

By doing so, Murray became the first player in history to win two Olympic gold singles medals and is the only player to win a Grand Slam, the ATP Finals, a Masters 1000 title and Olympics gold in the same year.

1: Ending Britain’s 77-year wait at Wimbledon (2013)

It will come as no surprise to many that No.1 in this list is Murray’s maiden Wimbledon title in 2013.

There was a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Murray, with the weight of the nations hopes of a first men’s singles champion since Fred Perry in 1936.

And these hopes were only heightened when the Scot showed signs of form after winning his third of what is now five titles at Queen’s.

There was also the added element of the 2012 Wimbledon final, where Murray was defeated by Roger Federer, but as we know he went onto get revenge on the same court at the Olympics a month later.

Murray reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, easing past the likes of Benjamin Becker, Lu Yen-Hsun, Tommy Robredo and 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny.

It was at this quarter-final stage where he faced his first hurdle against former top 10 player Fernando Verdasco, with Murray two-sets-to-love down.

However, the gutsy Brit fought back to beat the Spaniard, 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 7-5, and kept his Wimbledon dream alive.

It was a much more comfortable semi-final contest for Murray, winning in straight sets against 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz to move one match away from the Wimbledon title once again.

But, if Murray was to win the title he would have to do it the hard way against world No.1 and at the time six-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.

Djokovic lead the head-to-head 11-7 at this point, but it was Murray who had won their only previous meeting on a grass court.

And the home favourite used that advantage to beat Djokovic in straight sets, but not in straightforward fashion having to come back from breaks down in both the second and third set.

Murray’s fate as Wimbledon champion was confirmed when Djokovic hit a backhand into the net, sending Centre Court into a rapturous applause for first men’s British singles winner in 77 years.

The Brit’s feat has only been highlighted more as time has gone on, with Djokovic being unbeaten on Centre Court until just this year when Carlos Alcaraz beat him in the final.

Honourable Mentions

We have condensed Andy Murray’s career into 10 magical moments, but there are still plenty more to look back on.

So, we have provided three honourable mentions for you:

  • Losing five Australian Open finals – four of them to Djokovic
  • Reaching the Roland Garros final in 2016 – where Murray suffered another major final defeat to Djokovic
  • Telling Fabio Fognini to ‘shut up’ in Shanghai 

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.