Roger Federer has delivered a touching tribute for his long-time rival Andy Murray, praising the Scot for his incredible fighting qualities – all of which were on show in his gutsy first round loss to Roberto Bautista-Agut on Monday night.
"First thing that comes to mind is somebody that will try everything on the court to beat you," Federer said when asked what he appreciates about the retiring Brit.
"I appreciate that. Within the rules, whatever he does, with his fighting spirit, with his tactics, with slicing, defense, attacking play, even serve and volley, chip and charge, he'll do it all. He'll leave everything out there.
"I feel there's no regrets for him after losing a game. I like that about him because I can't stand it when guys go into the match and they're just content, I do my thing, it doesn't work, so be it. He's not like that.
"He's one of the great retrievers we had in our sport. He's a big guy to do that. He's more from the modern generation, with Novak together, two guys that move like smaller guys. Carrying the weight of Britain on his shoulders for British tennis, that was not easy for him. I think you could see that it wasn't always simple at times for him.
"At the end, all of us, the players, we're extremely happy that he ended up winning Wimbledon, Davis Cup, Olympic gold, even though Olympic gold went through me.
"He had to really fight for it and earn it, like world No. 1. He gave it all he had after Novak's incredible start to the season. He had a sick finish. There's a lot to admire about Andy, how he went about it."
