Andy Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, says he is “pumped” to make his Laver Cup debut after watching the event on TV for the past few years. Murray, 35, will compete in the Laver Cup this week in London.

The Laver Cup has been conducted since 2017, but it must be noted that due to the pandemic, it did not take place in 2020. Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic will all be on the same team for the very first time in the event’s history – and also for the last time.

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“I’m pumped,” Murray said ahead of the tournament. “I’ve watched the last few years on the TV and it always looked brilliant, great atmosphere, unique really. These are guys that I competed against throughout my whole career, and it’s been extremely challenging, so I’m very much looking forward to being part of the same team as them.

Who is Andy Murray?

Andy Murray or Sir Andrew Barron Murray OBE, born on May 15, 1987, is a Scottish professional tennis player. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranked him No. 1 in the world for 41 weeks, and he finished the year as No. 1 in 2016.

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Murray has three Grand Slam singles titles, two at Wimbledon (2013 and 2016) and one at the US Open (2012), as well as eleven major Grand Slam final appearances. From July 2008 to October 2017, Murray was placed in the top 10 for all but one month, and he was no lesser than world No. 4 in eight of the nine year-end rankings. Murray has 46 ATP singles titles to his name, which include 14 Masters 1000 titles.

Murray, who was initially coached by his mother Judy and his older brother Jamie, relocated to Barcelona at the age of 15 to train at the Sánchez-Casal Academy. He started his professional career around the time that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal defined themselves as men’s tennis’s dominant players. Murray had quick success on the ATP Tour, debuting in the top ten at the age of 19 in 2007.

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Murray and Novak Djokovic had differentiated themselves from the rest of the men’s tennis field by 2010, having joined Federer and Nadal in the Big Four, the group of players who ruled men’s tennis in the 2010s. Murray did struggle against the rest of the Big Four at first, having lost his first four major finals (three to Federer and one to Djokovic).

In 2012, he won the US Open by besting Djokovic, becoming the first British major singles title holder since Virginia Wade in 1977, and the first British male champion since Fred Perry in 1936. At the 2012 London Olympics, he won the men’s singles gold medal against Federer and the mixed doubles silver medal.

Also read: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray: Tennis’ Big Four assemble at Laver Cup 2022

Murray reached six more major finals between 2013 and 2016. He triumphed in two of these meetings, at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. Murray had the best season of his career in 2016. Murray reached three major finals that year, winning Wimbledon.

He also successfully defended his title at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the only male or female player to win two Olympic gold medals in singles. Murray had become world No. 1 for the first time that season and bagged the year-end No. 1 ranking by defeating Djokovic in the Tour Finals.

He has struggled with various injuries since 2016, and he fell out of the top 100 in 2018 due to only rarely playing on tour, though he has since steadily risen back to the top 50.

Also read: History repeats at Laver Cup: What happened when Roger-Rafael played doubles in 2017

Murray is an all-court player who shines at defence, serve return, and point construction. On the ATP Tour, he is universally perceived as having one of the best and most dependable two-handed backhands.

Murray is regarded as a national hero in the United Kingdom for reasserting the country as a dominant force in men’s tennis for the first time since the early twentieth century. In 2015, he and his brother led the Great Britain Davis Cup team to victory.

Also read: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal pair up for doubles: When and where to watch Laver Cup match

Murray has been a vocal feminist, and when he hired Amélie Mauresmo as his coach, he became only the second top-10 player in ATP Tour history to hire a female coach. He is also the only player to have defeated Novak Djokovic in a Wimbledon final.