After becoming ATP champion in San Jose in 2006 as an 18-year-old, Murray also broke into the top 10 for the first time in 2007. The Briton, who was widely regarded as one of the most promising players in the game, then made his Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2008 US Open when he reached the final before losing to Federer.
What happened over the next decade is well documented, as the Big Four absolutely dominated the Grand Slam scene, almost always battling it out between them in the latter stages of the Majors.
Murray, who reached 11 Grand Slam finals and won three titles, now confirms that the Big Four rarely practiced together simply because they did not want to risk potentially exposing some of their weaknesses.
Murray: Federer stopped practicing with me after a year or two. He never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal
“Not at the top of the game. I practiced with Djokovic and Nadal. I practiced with Federer when I first started, but after a year or two he stopped practicing with me. He never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal. I think he looked at them as competitors,” the former world No. 1 said in Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips.
“I enjoyed practicing with them because it gave me a chance to see where my game was, but I never went out to dinner with them. Whereas now I would love to do that. When you play against them, you don’t want to show weakness. You don’t want to say, ‘Oh, I’m really having trouble with my backhand,’ because the next game they just put it there all the time.”
Ultimately, Djokovic won the Grand Slam race with his 24 titles. Nadal comes in second with 22 Grand Slam titles, while Federer finishes with 20.
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