\n<\/p>\n
Murray’s dry humour was already established during his junior days.<\/p>\n
“Who’s the greatest player in the history of Scotland?” a reporter probed.<\/p>\n
“Me?” he replied.<\/p>\n
Murray added: “My mum was an OK player, but we’ve got one senior guy who’s, like, 220 in the world. Apart from him, there’s not really anybody that’s been very good.”<\/p>\n
That “senior guy” was Alan Mackin, whose win-loss tour level record reached 1-15. Murray retired with a 739-262 tally.<\/p>\n
First up for Murray in the 2004 junior title run was 15-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who was walloped 6-0 6-1.<\/p>\n
Twelve years later, Murray beat Del Potro again in the Rio Olympics final<\/a> – by which point both men had won a US Open men’s title.<\/a><\/p>\n And if there is familiarity about the name of Stakhovsky, the man who stood in Murray’s way in the final, there is good reason for that.<\/p>\n The Ukrainian achieved a jaw-dropping 2013 victory against Roger Federer<\/a> at Wimbledon, boasting he “kicked the butt” of the Swiss. With Federer nursing a sore backside, Murray swooped for that title, too.<\/p>\n Murray’s retirement came just weeks ago. His body had been sending code-red messages for years; the mind eventually took heed.<\/p>\n