The Lad Done Well: Andy Murray Comes of Age – Spectator Blogs

And then there were four. If Andy Murray’s accomplishments still make him the least of the great quartet ruling tennis in this golden age that’s about as useful a comment as remarking that Roberto Duran was outshone by Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns. It may be true but it doesn’t matter very much.

There have been other great eras in tennis – Borg, McEnroe and Connors for one – but there’s never been a quartet quite like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and, yes, Andy Murray.

Consider this: eight men shared the ten Grand Slam tournaments preceding Roger Federer’s first Grand Slam victory (Wimbledon 2003). The subsequent 37 tournaments have been divvied up between eight players. Or, if you wish to begin counting from when Nadal emerged in Paris in 2005, the last 31 Grand Slam titles have been shared between just five men. I think it’s reasonable to suggest Juan Martin del Potro’s 2009 US Open victory is an outlier.