He was ranked world No. Murray won three Grand Slam singles titles, two at Wimbledon in and , and one at the US Open in , and reached eleven major finals. Murray was ranked in the top 10 for all but one month from July through to October , and was in the top 4 in eight of the nine year-end rankings during that time. Murray won 46 ATP Tour singles titles, including 14 Masters events and back-to-back gold medals in men's singles at the Summer Olympics , the only male player ever to do so.
He began his professional career around the time Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal established themselves as the two dominant players in men's tennis. Murray had immediate success on the ATP Tour, making his top 10 debut in at age By , Murray and Novak Djokovic had joined Federer and Nadal in the Big Four , the group of players who dominated men's tennis during the s. Murray initially struggled against the rest of the Big Four, losing his first four major finals three to Federer and one to Djokovic.
He made his major breakthrough in by defeating Federer to win the London Olympics and defeating Djokovic to win the US Open, becoming the first British major singles champion since Virginia Wade in , and the first male champion since Fred Perry in He also beat Djokovic to win Wimbledon in Murray had his career-best season in , when he made three major finals, winning Wimbledon. He defended his title at the Rio Olympics to become the only player, male or female, to win two Olympic gold medals in singles.
Murray also became world No. After , he struggled with various injuries and fell out of the top in due to only seldom playing on tour, though he slowly rose back to the top 50 in the s.
He played his final professional tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics. Murray was an all-court player who excelled in particular at defence, returning serve and constructing points. He was generally regarded as having one of the most consistent two-handed backhands on the ATP Tour. Murray is credited with re-establishing the United Kingdom as a leading force in men's tennis for the first time since the early 20th century.
