Andy Murray questions the credibility of the young-generation against the ‘Big 3’
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Andy Murray
Andy Murray is on his way to make a comeback in tennis. Last week he reached the final of the Biella Challenger event and is due to play at the ATP 250 Open Sud de France.
But now, the Briton has claimed the next generation of tennis stars are still miles away from the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The Serb won his 18th grand slam title in Melbourne by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final.
With this win, 15 of the last 16 majors have been won by the big 3; Dominic Thiem‘s victory at last year’s US Open being the only exception in the long sequence.
Commenting on the Australian Open final, Murray said: “I expected the final to be closer to be honest but I also know how good Novak is there and when he’s on his game and obviously highly motivated.”
“The younger guys have not shown that they’re particularly close.”: Andy Murray
Murray said that the younger players should be ready to deal with immense pressure.
“I saw before the final Medvedev said something along the lines of Novak having immense pressure on him, which is true but those guys have been at the top of the game, they’ve been dealing with immense pressure their whole careers and they know how to deal with it and perform at their best level when it matters.”, the Scott said.
“It’s different standing to return or to serve in a grand slam final than a quarter-final or a semi-final.
“When you’re coming up against someone who’s won 17 of them, or 19 or 20 of them, which these guys are doing now, it’s pretty intimidating. The younger guys, for me, they’ve not shown that they’re particularly close.”
“Obviously what happened at the US Open, Thiem obviously did what he had to do to win the event but if Novak hadn’t put a ball through the line judge’s throat, it would be the same outcome I think.”
The Scott then went on to say that how rivalries and match-ups are significant in tennis.
“Sport generally, especially an individual one, tends to be about match-ups. I think Nick’s beaten Novak a couple of times when they’ve played. When I’ve played against him, I’ve been successful.”
“There are some players that I might find harder playing against than someone that seems like they’ve been more successful.”
“It just comes down to match-ups. Maybe Nick is saying it because he doesn’t like Novak, I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
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Lakshya Chopra
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