Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic we are lead to believe are good friends and get on very well off the court in their own time but on it, their fierce rivalry is starting to develop at quite a rate.
The two stars of the modern game have produced some astonishing matches when they go toe-to-toe on court, with their most recent encounter coming at the Miami Masters in the quarter-finals of the competition.
It was the Serb who came out on top on that occasion with a hard-fought 7-5 6-3 victory over the Scot, who is ever so slowly get back to his best tennis having undergone back surgery at the end of last year which has hindered his tennis of late.
Although it was a straight-sets win from Djokovic, which denied Murray retaining his title down in Florida, trying to beat the world number two clearly meant a lot to the two-time Gland Slam wining Brit.
When a controversial net call went against Murray in a turning point of the game in the first set, the decision certainly rattled the Scotsman who then had just one or two words to say to the umpire.
Like the class act that he is, the British number one refused to blame the defeat solely on that one call but the decision clearly got under his skin, such is his desire to get the better of one of the best players in the game right now.
Djokovic is clearly an admirer of Murray as well and despite his opponent’s recent back problems, he never expected anything but a very close encounter.
He said: “I was not surprised about the way he played. I expected him to play well, to be a little bit more aggressive.
“I tried to not allow him to be in the comfort zone because, when he strikes the zone, when he feels comfortable on the court, he’s striking the ball so well, maybe best in the world.”
Murray tasted bitter defeat to Djokovic in Grand Slam finals before going on to win Wimbledon, which some questioned the Glasgow-born star could ever do.
A defeat in the final of the 2013 Australian Open must have hit Murray hard and would have been difficult to get over but the fact he was able to beat the Serb star in the final of his home Grand Slam later that year really shows the character of the man and why is up there in the tennis betting.
With both players going through the highs and lows of success and failure against each other, on some of the biggest stages the game of tennis has to over, there is little doubt the pair will continue to produce extraordinary matches that will pack out stadiums to come.
With Murray on the road to recovery, be sure that he will put the set-back of Miami behind him and will continue to push Djokovic all the way for the remaining Grand Slams to come at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in another intriguing season.
G.O.A.T
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