‘I’m Not Saying I’m Roger Federer or Muhammad Ali’: Andy Murray Explains How Boxing Legend Inspired His Comeback

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray has been making strong strides in his comeback during the latter half of the 2021 season. He’s beaten some notable players like Carlos Alcaraz and most recently Rafael Nadal after a lengthy injury kept him away from action.

Over the past 6 months, Murray has been competing in tournaments at an increased frequency. The three-time Grand Slam winner wishes to come back on top of his game and compete for the biggest titles. Legends like Muhammad Ali and Roger Federer have made some unexpected dominant returns after being on the sidelines.

The Scot expresses his desire to seek inspiration from these supreme personalities. Murray spoke on this subject and stated, “I love boxing, and his (Muhammad Ali’s) story, I thought was an amazing story. When he beat George Foreman to win the world title, everyone thought he was finished, that he had absolutely no chance, everybody like wrote him off and stuff. That was something that for me at the time was inspirational.”

Andy Murray seeks inspiration from the Muhammad Ali and Roger Federer

Murray remembered Ali’s fight against Foreman and was mesmerized by the way ‘The Greatest’ won that match. Even in 2017, Roger came back from a six-month absence only to win the Australian Open back then. Andy insists that he has it in him to give the top players on the Tour a run for their money. As long as he sees the positives, he is determined to compete.

The 34-year-old added, “People shouldn’t be so quick always to write everyone off. It happened with – and I’m not saying I’m Roger Federer or Muhammad Ali, I’m certainly not. But I still have the ability to compete with the best players in the world. If my body is able to stay healthy, it’s certainly a possibility. And whilst that possibility is still there, I’m going to keep on keep trying to achieve what it is that I want.”

Coming to tennis, Murray played against Nadal yesterday and ended up winning in straight sets. It was a great result for him and will provide him with the required motivation moving into the next season. We wish him the very best for his preparations and it will be interesting to see how he performs.

Watch this story: The Journey of Roger Federer to the Elite Billionaire’s Club