Andy Murray was a starry-eyed rookie who began training with the legendary Roger Federer. But Murray’s steady growth from rookie to seasoned pro changed Federer’s stance on training with him. Although Murray searched for reasons, it became obvious to him how the ATP dynamics between elite players often work.

“When I started out on the tour, I trained a lot with Federer at first, but then as I improved, he didn’t want to train with me anymore”, said Murray during his interview for the YouTube channel, the Switch. “Normally, when you’re an elite player and a promising young player emerges, you want to train with him to see how he plays, and then, over time, if the young player improves, he becomes a rival or someone you’ll compete against.”

As an outsider challenging the dominance of the Big Three in the sport, Murray’s off-court dynamic with the Big Three was different from theirs. Going up against Federer, Murray was one of the few players in the 2000s who had a dominant head-to-head record against the Swiss player, who was head and shoulders above the rest of the Tour.

After their first eight meetings, it was the British player who had a 6-2 lead in the individual contests, getting the better of the Swiss at marquee events like Shanghai, Madrid, and Indian Wells.

Murray won three Grand Slams in his career and managed to challenge the Big Three regularly. But the latter part of his career was disrupted by multiple injuries as he was forced to retire in 2024.

In tennis, it is difficult to maintain a genuine level of friendship between players, as a close bond off court can undermine on-court performance. One of the best rivalries that the sport has ever seen was that of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, both of whom have always been friends off the court. However, back in the 80s, when they played each other regularly in Grand Slam finals and were striving for the No. 1 ranking, they had to put their friendship on hold temporarily to preserve their competitive edge on court.

Murray Talked About His Different Dynamics With Each Member of the Big Three

While discussing his relationship with the Big Three, Murray revealed that he always thought Federer was the standard-setter in tennis and that he aimed to beat the Swiss. The argument makes sense, as Murray made his Tour debut back in 2005, the same year that Federer had one of the best seasons in men’s tennis history.

Discussing Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Murray stated that being closer in age to them had a positive effect on the relationship. The Brit had faced the Serb and the Spaniard in junior tennis and had often practiced with them, even when they were established on the Tour. Later on, he developed a closer relationship with Djokovic, joining the Serb’s coaching team for the first part of the 2025 season.

He trained with Nadal regularly as well during the early years of his career. Sharing a bond since their teenage years, Nadal and Murray often share banter on their favorite soccer clubs per Tennis.com.

Despite being very close competitors on court, the four players always had mutual respect, as evidenced by their attendance at the retirement ceremonies of Federer and Nadal, and by Djokovic’s presence at Murray’s last match at Wimbledon. In any other era of men’s tennis, Murray could well have had more Major titles, as the former World No.1 reached eleven Major finals in his career, three of which he lost to Federer, and five to Djokovic. However, he held his own against the greatest of rivals, being the only player to attain the year-ending No.1 ranking outside of the Big Three between 2004 and 2021.