Andy Murray said it was “extra special” to be a part of Roger Federer’s farewell. Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, retired from professional tennis after this year’s Laver Cup. On Team Europe, Federer was joined by some of his biggest rivals: Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
As Federer and Nadal played a doubles match, Murray and Djokovic supported them from the Team Europe bench. “It was incredible and quite emotional. I really enjoyed the whole Laver Cup, it was my first time playing that event, and being there for Roger’s last match was very special.
There was a lot of fuss in general and we really wound up to each other. One night I went out to dinner with Roger and [team captain] Bjorn Borg, and it was a really fun evening, although Bjorn spent most of the night laughing at me.
We had a lot of good training sessions together and I really enjoyed the team dynamic,” Murray told Hello. Murray went into 2022 hoping to make his first deep Grand Slam since 2017. Unfortunately for Murray, a big Grand Slam run didn’t happen for him this year.
Looking ahead to 2023, Murray reveals that he has a very tight schedule, as he is determined to be well prepared for the Australian Open. “I have a pretty tight schedule. I will start the year in Australia, which I always like a lot.
I will play a tournament there and then the Australian Open. Then I’ll do a few more hard court tournaments, then hopefully clay, and then I’ll be back in the UK for the grass season.”
King Roger has transcended tennis
Courier reflected on that epic night on a recent episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, also praising Roger Federer for never shying away from expressing pure emotion on the court.
“I was ready for it, I knew it was going to be significant. I anticipated a lot of emotion from Roger, what I didn’t anticipate was the emotion from everyone else on the court. I certainly expected the crowd to be emotional when Roger got emotional, because he is emotional.
We’ve seen him cry when he wins, when he loses, he gives it, which is great,” Jim Courier said. “He is such a significant sporting icon that you knew there was going to be an outpouring of emotion in the room,” he added.
For now, I’m still focused on playing tennis and winning matches. I’m happy with my progress this year, but there are some areas to improve on,” Murray revealed.
