Andy Murray fires back at John McEnroe and insists he deserves his world No.1 status
Andy Murray has fired back at John McEnroe by telling him he deserves to be world No.1.
And the double Olympic champion insisted players should not just be judged on Grand Slam success.
The American legend has claimed the Scot is a “distant fourth” behind Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“Those three guys are better than him,” stated Super Mac. “I think it’s amazing that he reached No.1.”
Murray, who begins his build-up to Wimbledon at the Aegon Championships in London this week, has won three Grand Slam titles.
Federer has a record 18, Nadal took his total to 15 with his French Open win and Djokovic has 12.
But the Scot has won the last two Olympic singles tournaments – the only player in history to achieve the feat – and took the last five tournaments of 2016 to finish the year as world No.1.
“For me, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks,” Murray said. “I’m very proud of the Olympic medals, they mean a lot to me.
“There are other tournaments outside the Slams as well. Most of the players enjoy competing in them. This tournament over my career is for sure my best tournament and I love playing here. It depends, everyone’s criteria for judging a player will be different.
“I think for pretty much all of my career, I’ve always been behind them in the rankings. If you look at the titles and everything those guys have won, I can’t compare myself to them.
“There’s maybe one or two things that I have done that they won’t have but for the most part I would have been fourth. That’s if you look at a whole career. But it’s not true of the last year because I’m ranked No 1 in the world.
“I’ve been better than them for the last 12 months, that’s how the ranking systems work.
“It took me a long time to get there. It’s not true of the last year but in terms of the career as a whole, then I would, if I could swap careers with those guys I obviously would because they’ve won a lot more than me.”
Murray has admitted he could only have two more years competing at the top level. “It’s always tough to stay at the top of any sport,” he explained.
“I would hope to still be playing at the next Olympics, I would like to. I hope I stay at the top of the game for five, six, seven years but I think just because Roger’s done it doesn’t mean that’s going to happen to everyone. The point I’m trying to get across is I want to make the most of the last few years, if I can.”
Starting against Aljaz Bedene on Tuesday, Murray is bidding to extend his record by winning a sixth title at Queen’s Club.
The defending champion, who reached the semis in Paris, said: “Obviously I am playing better now than I was before the French. In practice, I am hitting the ball a lot better than I was before the start of the tournament there. I am happier with where my game is at.”
Djokovic, who lost in the quarter-finals in Paris, will decide on Tuesday if he will play at Eastbourne next week.
