A summary of Andy's route to his 40th* senior title ( further details in the tournament thread in the men's section ), achieved without dropping a set, with more details in the general tournament thread :
Congratulations to him! To give a sense of the accomplishment, that is the same number as Wawrinka (WR 3), Nishikori (WR 4), Raonic (WR 6) and Monfils (WR 8) combined.
Andy has been both cursed and blessed by his peer group.
To have to compete against Rodge at his prime and now Novak at his with the best clay court players of all time in Rafa thrown in for good measure is a triffle unlucky however to have been constantly tested by the very best has turned him into the phenemona he is now and taken him to a different plane to all the players you mention bar Stan.
As Wawrinka would himself say, he doesn't have the same consistency. He has 'only' 15 career titles - admittedly three of those Grand Slams, but it's nothing quite like the others. And if you only took his record up until he was the same age that Andy Murray is now, he'd 'only' have eight including the AO.
That said, I agree. He's the only one of the non-big-4 whom you always have to factor in as a potential winner in the really big competitions.
As Wawrinka would himself say, he doesn't have the same consistency. He has 'only' 15 career titles - admittedly three of those Grand Slams, but it's nothing quite like the others. And if you only took his record up until he was the same age that Andy Murray is now, he'd 'only' have eight including the AO.
That said, I agree. He's the only one of the non-big-4 whom you always have to factor in as a potential winner in the really big competitions.
I would probably add Del Potro to that list if he can stay fit and healthy.
Thanks, Spectator, for adding context as to how 40 titles compares to other players beyond these I mentioned. It didn't seem quite right to congratulate the great accomplishment and then put the poor chap bottom of a mini table.
