“Obviously unbelievably tough. You know, and then the sort of middle, latter stage of his career, you know, I think even stronger,” the former world No 1 started off.

Britain’s veteran tennis star Andy Murray has revealed how difficult it is to face someone of the quality of Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian tennis star is often regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles.

Murray, who has won three Grand Slam titles, was recently quoted in a report where he stated how difficult it is to face someone like Djokovic in major finals.

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“I have obviously played lots of finals against him and it was extremely difficult for me even when we’d sort of grown up together and had a lot of experience of playing against him in major competitions,” he said.

“But I think with what he’s gone on to achieve, you know, in the last five or six years, I think for some of the younger players coming through to be stepping into playing a final of a Masters Series or a Grand Slam and he’s on the other side of the net when he’s won you know, 24 majors and, like you say, 98 titles.

“It’s not easy when you have limited experience in those situations and, you know, you’re standing across the net from a guy who’s won as much as he has. That’s really difficult. I felt that a bit early on like when I played Roger in my first US Open final or when I was playing Rafa in the latter stages of events when I was quite young.

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“It’s not the same, not the same as playing them in the quarter-finals or semi-final. And I certainly think that for the younger guys now, when it’s Novak on the other side of the net, you know, really, really difficult for them to win against him.

“Not just from the tennis side where, you know, he’s obviously exceptional, but I think from the mental side, as well, because he’s done it all, whereas a lot of the younger players coming through haven’t.”

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