ANDY MURRAY has revealed that Roger Federer stopped practising with him as soon as he became a serious “competitor”.
The legendary Scot, 38, faced Federer 25 times on tour, including twice at Wimbledon.
Murray held his own against the iconic Swiss and actually had a winning record against him going into 2014, with the London 2012 gold medal matches among his memorable triumphs.
In tennis it is commonplace for top pros to practise together over the course of a year – with current top dogs Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner frequently sharing the court ahead of tournaments.
Federer, however, liked to suss out rising stars – before cutting off sessions when a player became a rival.
During an appearance on Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips, Murray was asked by his compatriot whether he had been friends with his fellow tennis superstars.
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The two-time former Wimbledon champion revealed: “Not at the top of the game. But I would practise with them. I would practise with (Novak) Djokovic and (Rafael) Nadal.
“When I first started on the tour I practised with Federer, but then he, after a year or two, then stopped. He wouldn’t practise with me anymore.
“He never practised with Djokovic or Nadal. I think if he considered them a competitor to him… (he wouldn’t practise with them).”
Ironically, Murray had a better record against Federer than he did against Djokovic or Nadal.
The Dunblane man won 11 of 25 meetings with Federer – compared to 11 of 36 against Djokovic and seven of 24 vs Nadal.
Hendry then revealed that top snooker stars like Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan favoured Federer’s more standoffish approach compared to those of his rivals.
The seven-time world champion, 56, said: “Steve was the same. Ronnie’s the same.”
When Murray expressed surprise, Hendry continued: “I would never socialise with any of the players, this is when I was at the top. And the same with Ronnie. Ronnie doesn’t stay at the same hotel as any of the other players.
“Judd (Trump) doesn’t really socialise with any of the other players, maybe one or two but he doesn’t generally. I think in an individual sport it’s quite important.”
On why he would share the court with his rivals away from competition, Murray revealed: “I liked practising with them just because it gave me a chance to see where my game was at.
“I wouldn’t practise with them a couple of days before a big match but a couple of weeks out from a major tournament, then I would practise with those guys.
You want to feel like you can tell them if you’re f***ing struggling with something
Andy Murray
“But I never… I was never going for dinner with them. Whereas now I would love to do that. I’ve seen them a few times socially and it’s great.
“But when I was playing… you can’t really be totally open.
“Generally if I’m socialising with friends and family, you want to feel like you can tell them if you’re f***ing struggling with something. But when you’re competing, you wouldn’t do it.”
Murray also admitted that his mum Judy initially thought brother Jamie was the stronger sibling on court.
The former world No1 said: “Mum coached me. My brother is 18 months older than me so I would play with him all the time.
“I grew up playing with my mum and brother. And apparently at the beginning I was really not good. And then that changed quite quickly.
“But yeah, my mum said initially she said she thought I was terrible, in comparison to my brother.
“But then I see that now with my own kids, the amount that can change in a few months with kids it’s unbelievable.”
Andy Murray’s career timeline
SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain’s most successful tennis player of the Open era.
After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year.
In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012.
Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court.
But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final.
In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title.
Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open.
But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic.
He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro.
Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 – the first British man to do so in history.
Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson).
He finishes his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings.
His final match was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-final of the men’s doubles at Roland Garros to USA pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.
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