The Rise, Fall, and Second Wind: The roller coaster ride of Andy Murray

Andy Murray has experienced the triumphs and the sufferings of professional tennis. This is his roller-coaster ride through the ATP Tour.

Andy Murray raised his fist in the air in triumph, a look of delight and relief crossing his otherwise deadpanned face. A straight-sets defeat of World #2 Novak Djokovic left him as the ATP World Tour Finals Champion and the year-end World #1. This feat left him as just the 17th man to accomplish the feat and the first from the United Kingdom.

This capped off the best year of his career. Alongside the Tour Finals title, he captured his third major title and second at Wimbledon in a straight-sets victory over Milos Raonic. He won his second gold medal in a row at the Rio Olympics and tacked on three Masters 1000 titles. It was one of the greatest seasons by a men’s tennis player in the Open Era and it seemed like just the beginning.

After years of living in the shadow of the Big 3, he finally broke through and turned the formidable trio into a foursome.

Unfortunately for Murray, the downhill slide would start soon after. Injuries sprang up more often than wins and relegated him to the sidelines after an uninspiring 2017 campaign ended during the Wimbledon quarterfinals. An emotional Murray took himself out of tennis following a first-round defeat at the 2018 Australian Open in hopes of his end to his pain.

When all of the cards were stacked against him, he, instead of folding, went all-in. It worked; after years of rehab and preparation, Murray finally returned to the winner’s circle at the 2019 European Open.

To truly understand how his roller coaster ride of a career, we need to go back to the beginning.