Sir Andy Murray: The story of a tennis icon

It all started at the age of five for Murray when his talent with the racket was first spotted. Fast forward seven years and he won the U14 National Championships in 1999.

In September 2004, Murray won the US Open junior title at Flushing Meadows by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky, cementing his position as Great Britain's brightest tennis hope.

By March 2005, he became the youngest Briton to ever play in the Davis Cup. He helped Jeremy Bates' team beat Israel with a crucial doubles victory playing alongside David Sherwood.

Following an impressive Queen's performance later in 2005, Murray received a wild card for Wimbledon where he went on an impressive run before losing out to the experienced David Nalbandian in a thriller. A few months later, he reached his first ATP Tour final in Thailand, but was stopped in his tracks by a familiar face, Roger Federer.

When Murray beat James Blake to win Queen's in 2009, he became the first Briton to do so since 1938 but in his second major final in Australia in 2010, Federer once again shattered his dreams.

In 2010, Murray collected two Masters 1000 titles in Toronto and Shanghai - both against Federer.

Then followed a stellar season in 2011 with five titles, including his second Queen's Club crown. However, Djokovic was a brick wall in the Australian Open final, while the imperious Nadal stood in his way from reaching the final of the French Open, Wimbledon, and at Flushing Meadows.

At Wimbledon in 2012, Murray ended the 74-year wait for a British men's singles finalist at the Grand Slam, but again he was unable to make the breakthrough, losing in four sets to Federer.

He bounced back in stunning fashion just 28 days later at the Olympics in London where he faced old nemesis Federer in the gold medal contest.

In front of a partisan Centre Court crowd, Murray showed immense focus and fortitude to claim a truly memorable 6-2 6-1 6-4 victory.

Murray fittingly described this victory as the biggest in his career and explained how athlete Mo Farah had given him the motivation he needed to win gold after his "amazing" victory in the 10,000m the night before.

"I watched the athletics last night, and it was unbelievable,” Murray said. "It was amazing to see Mo Farah run his final 400 metres in 53 seconds when I can only do it in 57 seconds when I'm fresh. That gave me the motivation to try to win the gold medal, because I wanted to be part of it if I could."

It was the first time since Josiah Ritchie in 1908 that a British man had won an Olympic singles gold medal in tennis.

He went on to partner Laura Robson to silver in the mixed doubles.

Buoyed by Olympic success, Murray emerged from the shadow of the great Fred Perry to become Britain's first Grand Slam winner in 76 years after a gladiatorial battle against Djokovic in the US Open final.

It was a spellbinding 7-6 (12-10) 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 victory over the world No 1 that took four hours and 54 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium and in front of a who's who of Scottish legends, including Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Sean Connery.

It included a marathon 87-minute first set that featured the longest tie-break a US Open final had ever witnessed as Murray edged Djokovic 12-10.

After Djokovic restored parity by taking the fourth set to send the final into a deciding-set shoot-out, Murray took a career-defining bathroom break. That helped him refocus and to "leave the court with no regrets".

Murray came out and showed remarkable resilience and tenacity to break the Serb three times before sealing a life-changing victory.

When Djokovic smashed a return long on championship point, the crowd rose to their feet to recognise Britain's history-maker.

A couple of months later, though, at the 2013 Australian Open, the Serb exacted his revenge with a four-set win.

A week before Wimbledon, Murray claimed his third Queen's Club title by beating Marin Cilic. A lucky omen?

It was indeed, with glory, glory Andy Murray at the All England Club.

He finally laid to rest Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion after defeating Djokovic 6-4 7-5 6-4 just 12 months after being denied his maiden Grand Slam in London.

The 26-year-olds were playing each other in a major final for the third time in the previous four Slams, with Murray winning at Flushing Meadows and Djokovic taking the 2013 Australian Open five months prior to Wimbledon.

Murray was prepared to go the distance against the six-time major champion on a sweltering summer's day in west London.

In a match dominated by lengthy baseline rallies, the Scot let three championship points slip away in a nerve-shredding last game. On the fourth opportunity, Djokovic slapped his backhand return into the net and the celebrations - mixed with plenty of relief - could finally begin.

"I remember it being unbelievably stressful and then at the end of it huge relief," he says of the victory.

"After the match I was exhausted. Twenty or 30 minutes after we got off the court, I was sitting with my wife and I was wanting to sleep. That is not usually how you feel after a match, normally the adrenaline makes it hard to sleep but I was completely spent after the match."

After a disappointing 2014, Murray returned to a Grand Slam final in January 2015 but again lost to Djokovic in Melbourne. Then, in May, he beat Philipp Kohlschreiber to claim his first clay-court title in Munich.

He quickly followed that up with a stunning 6-3 6-2 victory over 'King of Clay' Nadal to win the Madrid Masters.

Murray beat Kevin Anderson to land his fourth Queen's Club title before going down to Federer in the last four at Wimbledon.

He finally ended an eight-match losing streak against top-ranked Djokovic to land the Montreal Masters crown for his fourth tournament victory of the year and third title in the Canadian event.

Murray dedicated the victory to his coach, Amelie Mauresmo, the former women's star who had given birth to a baby boy hours earlier.

He also moved to No 2 in the world ahead of Federer and said: "If this was the US Open, we'd have to play another couple of sets like that, which isn't easy."

In January 2016, his search for an elusive Australian Open title continued after his fourth final loss to Djokovic.

Murray then edged out old foe Djokovic thanks to one of his greatest-ever displays of tennis at the Rome Masters. The winning shot was unforgettable Murray magic.

The Scot celebrated his 29th birthday by lifting the title and becoming the first British man to win at the Foro Italico since Patrick Hughes in 1931.

Having turned himself into one of the world's best clay-courters, Murray completed his set of major finals by reaching the decider at the French Open, but the result was a familiar story - defeat to Djokovic.

He later revealed that was one result against his great rival he would like to have changed.

Murray said on a social media chat with Djokovic in April 2020: "That would have been my biggest achievement for me if I would have won the French. Australia has been pretty painful for me thanks to you over the years. If I could change one I would take the French Open off you."

Just a couple of months later, Murray claimed his third major crown and it came on his beloved grass.