Borg’s statement regarding Andy Murray’s retirement steals the show: “Congrats to one of the all-time greats”
Murray discussed his legacy and the significance of hearing from “an all-time great” in an insightful interview with Eurosport. After winning a silver medal in mixed doubles at London 2012 with Laura Robson, the two-time gold medallist had a conversation with her.
Bjorn Borg’s heartfelt farewell message is shared by Murray. Due to persistent ailments that kept him from playing at his best, Murray’s latter years were not his best.
But in the later stages of his career, he pulled off a number of incredible comebacks in doubles during Paris 2024, as well as five-hour triumphs over Thanasi Kokkinakis and Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open.
Although Murray undoubtedly battled to play at the greatest level for the remainder of his career, he said at the end that he no longer felt sad about his 19-year career ending: “I’m not unhappy, I’m not upset I’m not playing tennis anymore,” the former world No. 1 stated. “I used to get depressed and anxious when I considered how soon this moment would arrive. It’s been much simpler so far than I anticipated.”
When Robson asked Murray whether he had any tributes or messages to share, the three-time Grand Slam winner shocked everyone by sharing a message he got from one of the greatest players in history: “I got a message from Bjorn Borg this morning, which was pretty cool,”
“[He’s] undoubtedly a legend in our sport, and I had the opportunity to spend a little time with him at the Laver Cup,” Murray continued, speaking of the Swede who led Team Europe from 2017 to 2023. “He congratulated one of the greatest players of all time. I wish you luck on your upcoming endeavors.”
Murray addressed the “Big Three,” saying, “I’m very aware that the guys I was competing against had significantly better careers than I have.” “But for a while in the middle of my career, I was regularly competing against them in the biggest events, and it meant a lot to me that I was able to reach the top spot in the world while they were all playing.
“During their existence, winning the main competitions hasn’t been simple. Thus, it was undoubtedly really special to have someone of that caliber acknowledge that, the former world No. 1 continued. “What Rafa, Roger and Novak achieved is so out of reach for basically anyone who played the game of tennis, and things I achieved look minuscule compared to that—it can be easy to forget about winning a few Grand Slams and the Olympics,” Murray stated.
It’s all that matters that I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished throughout this time; I worked very hard for it. It is not very important what other people think about it, he said. “I love tennis and I have a lot of respect for previous generations and what they’ve achieved and given us a platform to go on to do what we have, so to hear from someone like Bjorn is really cool.
“We’re probably still at the tennis court. The Scot said, “My mom and my team were there. We took some pictures together and laughed and joked a little.” “My physical therapist was downstairs and asked if I wanted to take an ice bath. “No, I don’t need to do any of that stuff anymore,” was my reaction. “Would you like to have a quick stretch?” he said. “No, I don’t want to have a quick stretch,” I exclaimed. But everyone was content and in a pleasant attitude.”