Andy Murray brutally humbled by Roger Federer as Brit opens up on 'awful' moment

Andy Murray enjoyed a glittering tennis career, reaching No. 1 in the world and winning 46 titles, including three Grand Slam trophies and two Olympic gold medals. Along with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, he was part of the Big Four era. From the 2011 French Open to Wimbledon in 2015, Murray made it to at least the quarter-final stage of every Major tournament.

But the retired British star has now opened up on the one moment he was brutally humbled on the tennis court by one of his biggest rivals, Federer, in front of a home crowd. Murray won just one game in the 56-minute encounter and admitted he was playing "awful".

Dealing with losses is routine for tennis players. Up to 128 of them enter a tournament at any given week, and only one can be crowned the champion. While Murray quickly learned how to cope with the ruthless tennis circuit, he explained that one particular match sticks out as the toughest.

Speaking to , the 38-year-old said: "One of the things with tennis is that it's hard, but with great lessons. Most weeks, you finish the tournaments losing.

"Even the greatest players, if they play 20 tournaments in a year, if they win five of them, that's a great season. The other weeks, you're finishing with a loss.

"But I would say that one of the matches where I was humbled was at the O2 Arena in the World Tour finals."

Back in 2014, Federer thrashed Murray 6-0 6-1 in the group stage of the season-ending championships. The first set was over within 24 minutes, and the Swiss star led 6-0 5-0 before Murray won a game.

He recalled: "I can't remember if it was 6-0 5-0, it was definitely 6-0 3-0 before I won my first game, and it might've been 6-0 5-0 against Federer.

"He was playing great, I was playing awful. It was in front of a home crowd, a huge stadium. I think it was the only time in my career when I was hoping to win a game. I definitely felt humbled that day."

Federer's performance in that match was widely regarded as one of the best he'd produced in a long time, but it still didn't take the sting out for Murray. At the time, the former No. 1 said it was a "tough night" and said he'd never faced anything like it.

More than a decade later, the defeat still sticks in his mind. But there were no hard feelings between Murray and Federer, and they became teammates in the same venue in 2022 for Federer's retirement.

The 20-time Major winner ended his career at the Laver Cup, a Ryder Cup-style team event co-created by Federer and his agent, Tony Godsick. He represented Team Europe along with Murray, Nadal and Djokovic, and Federer teamed up with the Spaniard in doubles for his last-ever match.

It was an emotional night inside the O2 Arena. They narrowly lost the match to Team World's Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe, and both burst into tears during Federer's retirement ceremony.

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