"After a year or two he stopped, he wouldn’t practice with me anymore" - No sparring with enemies: Federer’s unwritten 'Big Three' code

Andy Murray shared an intense rivalry with some of the best players to grace the court. He regularly competed with the 'Big Three' making up of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. In contrast to the huge rivalries of today, Murray stated why Federer never practiced with his competitors.

It is becoming more and more common to see on court rivalries turn friendly when they are not ferociously competing on the court. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been spotted a number of times in a more convivial environment. An example of this was ahead of the ATP Tour Finals when they were seen rallying together, ramping up their preparations for what would be another highly anticipated matchup in the final in Turin, in which Sinner won.

This trend has occurred for many years. It was something Murray used to do with his biggest competitors. "I would practice with them, I’d practice with Djokovic and Nadal," Murray said on the Stephen Hendry Cue Tips YouTube channel.

Federer took things rather differently than his fellow competitors, seeing it from a different perspective. "When I first started, I would practice with Federer. But after a year or two he stopped, he wouldn’t practice with me anymore," Murray commented. "He never practiced with Djokovic or Nadal, I think because he considered them to be a competitor."

This view was not seen on the same point of view from the Scot who saw it as a chance to test himself the best and offer an estimation on where his game currently is. "I like practicing with them just because it gave me the chance to see where my game was at," Murray admitted.

However, there was a limit. "I wouldn’t practice with them a couple of days before a big match, but a couple weeks out from a major tournament, then I would practice with those guys," he said. "I was never going for dinner with them. Whereas now I’d love to do that, see them a few times socially."

While it was ok from a tennis point of view, from a social point of view he was not prepared to share his deepest secrets with his biggest rivals. The 'Big Three' and Murray have been spotted together numerous times to this current day, often in a friendly environment celebrating one of the other's achievements in the sport. This was something that Murray is happy to do now, but when competing he kept his cards closer to his chest. "Generally, if I’m socialising with friends and family, you want to feel like you can tell them if you’re struggling with something," Murray said. "But if you’re competing against them, you wouldn’t do it."

Murray endured a show-stopping rivalry with the 24-time Grand Slam champion, regularly meeting in major finals ang hugely important matchups. After Murray's retirement, the duo went from foe to friend as Murray joined Djokovic's team as a coach. This relationship lasted just six months but proved to be a very insightful experience for Murray.

He got the opportunity to see how one of the greatest players to pick up a racket trained and prepared for the biggest tournaments on offer. Nevertheless, there was some bemusing quirks to his warm-up, which included utilising a two-handed backhand - with his weaker hand. "A two-handed backhand, you use that left hand a lot," Murray said. "Djokovic, when I was helping him, with all the sessions, he’d start just using his left hand warming up."

Murray and Djokovic teamed up ahead of the 2025 Australian Open, where the Serbian defeated Alcaraz enroute to the semi-finals where he frustratingly retired against Alexander Zverev. He is set to return to Melbourne as he looks for an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title with the first Grand Slam event of the year commencing from January 18 - February 1.