According to Mats Wilander, if Andy Murray had competed in a different era, he would likely have many more majors to his name.
The British player is one of the best players in recent memory, but he was unfortunate to play at the height of the Big Three era, which hurt him when it comes to trophies, according to former ATP player Wilander.
Murray's career could be observed in many ways, but two seem to be predominant. On the one hand, playing at the height of the Big Three era diminished the number of trophies he won and the number of milestones he achieved.
He won three Grand Slam trophies, and he's a far better player than some players with a couple more. On the other hand, the fact that he did so well while playing those three certainly enhances his legacy.
Battling the three best players of all time and actually achieving anything of note during their peak is just something that must be recognized. That's insane, and Stan Wawrinka benefits from the same boost, though his best days came a bit later in the Big Three dominance era.
For Wilander, it's pretty clear that Murray is an iconic player who likely would have won at least 10 Grand Slams if he hadn't had to battle Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal every week.
"A lot of people have, I think, misunderstood Andy Murray over the years. But when you see him in Miami after doing that to his ankle, suddenly, they might realise Andy Murray is one of the greatest fighters of all time, one the greatest competitors of all time. He would have won 10 majors if he didn't play at the same time as the big three."
Murray certainly added to his legacy after coming back with a metal hip and playing as well as he did. It's pretty incredible he was not able to play at all, but he did. He found a way, and that's just admirable. Everything he did has been iconic, and it's going to end later this year, unfortunately.
"Again, it's just Andy Murray. He's an unbelievable fighter. He's got so much knowledge, so much experience, but he still looks at tennis like a kid, like when he was 14 years old."
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