Murray Milestone: Briton Reaches 700 Career Wins

With Friday's 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 result over Taro Daniel in Indian Wells, Andy Murray hit a new milestone with 700 ATP Tour victories. This latest century of wins, achieved over the course of seven seasons, might be the 34-year-old’s most impressive yet.

Despite several injuries, two hip surgeries and fears of an early retirement since win No. 600, the former World No. 1 continues to add to his legendary resume in 2022.

"This was a target I sort of set myself at the back end of last year," Murray said in his post-match interview. "It's a lot of wins. Obviously very happy to get it here, and let's go for 800 now." 

Murray hit the 500-wins mark at the Miami Open in 2015 and cleared 600 the following year at the Western & Southern Open, both with wins over Kevin Anderson. In the prime of his career, Murray needed just 116 matches in what was his quickest progress between century landmarks.

The Great Scot’s ascent to No. 700, by contrast, was his longest milestone journey in terms of both matches and time, requiring 149 contests over five-and-a-half years. He needed 147 matches to go from win No. 1 to win No. 100. (See table below story for more.)

MURRAY JOINS ACTIVE 700 MATCH WINS CLUB

Murray is the fourth active player on the ATP Tour — and the 18th man in the Open Era — to join the 700 Match Wins Club. Here are the active players to reach the milestone:

Player	Career Match Record
1) Roger Federer	1,251-275
2) Rafael Nadal	1043-209
3) Novak Djokovic	991-200
4) Andy Murray	700-220

Murray’s latest 100 began with him at No. 2 in the ATP Rankings, but quickly saw him make the leap to World No 1. The Briton first got there in November 2016 following a title at the Rolex Paris Masters. 

At 29, he became second-oldest player to debut at No. 1 (John Newcombe), ending a wait of seven years and 82 days since he first claimed the No. 2 spot in August 2009 — a record-long incubation period.

Murray finished the 2016 season on a 26-match winning streak, clinching his status as year-end World No. 1 in the title match of the Nitto ATP Finals with a victory over Novak Djokovic. He won nine tour-level titles and 78 matches in that historic season, both career-bests.

He then tallied another 25 wins in 2017, culminating in a run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals. But he was plagued by a lingering hip injury that London fortnight and would not take the court again until mid-2018.

💯 x 7

A look back at @andy_murray's milestone ATP Tour wins! pic.twitter.com/3Mm1pmUcmm

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 11, 2022

Murray underwent his first hip surgery in January 2018 and played just six events on the season. Of the seven wins he recorded that year, the most memorable was his 3 a.m. triumph over Marius Copil at the Citi Open, an emotionally and physically taxing effort which left him in post-match tears and forced his withdrawal from the tournament.

At the start of 2019, few would have thought the 700-wins mark was in play — perhaps Murray least of all. In a teary Australian Open press conference, he revealed that that event might be his last as a professional, such was the ongoing daily pain from his hip problem.

But thanks in part to the recommendation of Bob Bryan, Murray underwent a second hip surgery in January 2019, leaving him with a resurfaced metal hip. He returned to the ATP Tour in August and, in one of the feel-good stories of recent years, won his 46th tour-level title by defeating Stan Wawrinka in the Antwerp final.

The pandemic-shortened 2020 season yielded just three wins for Murray, though one of them came against eventual US Open finalist Alexander Zverev at the Western & Southern Open — his first Top 10 win since 2017.

Murray notched two more Top 10 wins in 2021, beating Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner in a strong close to a 14-event season.

Entering 2022 with 691 wins, he got to 695 by reaching his second post-hip-surgery final in Sydney. Wins at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai set him up for 700 in Indian Wells.

With a career tour-level record of 700-220 to go along with his three Grand Slam titles, 14 ATP Masters 1000 titles and two Olympic gold medals, Murray is not playing for records at this stage of his career. Instead, he competes for the love of the game and for the opportunity to create more special moments on the court. Moments like the one he enjoyed on Friday.

[NEWSLETTER]

MURRAY'S MATCH WINS MILESTONES

Match Win No. & Opponent	Tournament (Round)	Matches
No. 1 - d. Santiago Ventura	2005 London-Queen's Club (1R)	2
No. 100 - d. Fernando Verdasco	2007 St. Petersburg (Final)	147
No. 200 - d. Fabio Fognini	2009 Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (3R)	122
No. 300 - d. Robin Soderling	2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (RR)	133
No. 400 - d. Tatsuma Ito	2012 Roland Garros (1R)	122
No. 500 - d. Kevin Anderson	2015 Masters 1000 Miami (4R)	129
No. 600 - d. Kevin Anderson	2016 Masters 1000 Cincinnati (3R)	116
No. 700 - d.Taro Daniel	2022 Masters 1000 Indian Wells (1R)	149

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/CixVTXE