P5N6EF Andy Murray (GB) playing in the first round of the Nature Valley International, Eastbourne 25th June 2018. His first win since Wimbledon 2017, after.....
Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka both won three Grand Slam titles, but while the former is lauded for being part of the Big Four at one point in his career, that honour never went to Wawrinka.
Is that fair?
Well, Wawrinka himself believes it is fair as the former world No 3 admitted Murray was “way ahead” of him when their careers are compared.
The Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer dominated tennis over the past two decades as they have won 66 Grand Slams between them and also spent several years at No 1 in the ATP Rankings.
For a few years, Murray kept up with them as he won two Wimbledon titles, the US Open, two Olympic singles gold medals and also spent 41 weeks at No 1 as the Big Three turned into the Big Four.
Murray was unable to kick on after the incredible 2016 season where he won Wimbledon and finished runner-up at the Australian Open and US Open as his injury nightmare started the following year and he featured at only two majors in the space of two and a half years due to his hip problem.
But some believe if you include Murray in the conversation then Wawrinka should also be mentioned as he won the Australian Open, French Open and US Open and also held his own against Djokovic, Nadal and Federer when they were at the top.
Wawrinka, though, only reached a career-high of No 3 compared to Murray’s No 1 while the Swiss has won four ATP Masters 1000 titles and Murray has 14. In total, Wawrinka has 16 ATP Tour singles titles to his name while Murray sits on 41 trophies.
Wawrinka believes Murray was a level above him as Brit also finished runner-up at eight Grand Slams with all those losses against the Big Three while the Swiss only lost one major final, the 2017 French Open against Nadal.
“For me, he was part of this Big Four era. From 18 years old until 30 he was always fighting with the Big Three, he was always there,” he told Express Sport.
“Let’s put it that way, he won ‘only’ three because all the other [players] were taking but he was always in the final, he was always winning a lot.
“For me, his career is nothing compared to mine. He’s way ahead, he won many more titles, things than me and his level was close to the Big Three for 10 years.”
