Andy Murray reveals the only time he practiced with Roger Federer was at the start of his career, and claims the Swiss also never held practice sessions with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic because he considered them "competitors."
After becoming an ATP champion in 2006 San Jose as an 18-year-old, Murray also broke into the top-10 for the first time in 2007. The Briton, who was widely regarded as one of the most promising players in the game, then made his Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2008 US Open when he made the final before losing to Federer.
What happened in the next 10 years is well-documented as the Big Four absolutely dominated the Grand Slam scene and would almost always battle it out between them in the latter stages of Majors.
Murray, who made 11 Grand Slam finals and won three titles, now confirms that the Big Four rarely practiced together simply because they didn't want to risk possibly revealing some of their weaknesses.
Murray: Federer stopped practicing with me after a year or two... He never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal
Not at the top of the game. I would practice with Djokovic and Nadal. I practiced with Federer when I first started, but then he stopped practicing with me after a year or two. He never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal. I think he considered them to be competitors," the former world No. 1 said on Stephen Hendry's Cue Tips.
I liked practicing with them because it gave me a chance to see where my game was at, but I was never going for dinner with them. Whereas now, I would love to do that. When you're competing against them, you don't want to show weakness. You don't want to say, 'Oh, I'm really in trouble with my backhand,' because next game they just put it there all the time.
In the end, Djokovic won the Grand Slam race with his 24 titles. Nadal comes second with 22 Grand Slam titles, while Federer finished with 20.
