Andy Murray recalls Mourinho comforting him after Federer ’embarrassed’ him

The ATP Finals, where he defeated Novak Djokovic in the 2016 final to clinch the title and with him No. 1 in the year-end rankings, will bid farewell to London this week after 12 successful years before moving to Turin.

Murray, ranked 119th in the world, was nowhere near the top eight cap and, like the rest of the fans who would normally make the trip to the O2, is unable to attend the tournament amid ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

Instead, Murray will spend the week reviewing matches on the video streaming website Twitch with French tennis star Gael Monfils.

At a preview show Friday night, Murray recalled his time in the ATP Finals but admitted, despite being home to one of his finest hours, that he “ never liked playing there. ”

“The O2 final helped with the noise and the atmosphere and it was brilliant when I played Novak in the final there,” said the three-time Grand Slam champion.

But it was always difficult for me to play at the O2. Not because of the atmosphere, but behind the field there is great support with some sponsorship.

“In the O2 it is very low and there are people sitting on the court and it was always difficult for me with the depth perspective. I never really liked playing there.

“I loved the atmosphere and always thought it was a brilliant event, but I didn’t feel comfortable on the court.”

Two years before his famous victory over Djokovic came one of the most difficult defeats of his career.

Roger Federer put Murray to the sword when he knocked the Brit out of the tournament with a ruthless 6-0 6-1 victory in just 56 minutes.

“One of the times I lost to Roger was one of the toughest losses from a scoring perspective in my career,” added Murray. ‘It was absolutely horrible, ugly. Maybe I should have been embarrassed more often, but then I felt embarrassed on the court.

‘I was down 6-0, 5-0 and managed to win a game. I lost 6-0 6-1. I was ashamed to be honest even when I won the game.

‘I didn’t want to lose 6-0 6-0, but the game was over, everyone was quite disappointed, the people who had bought tickets. The game took place in an hour, it wasn’t competitive at all. ‘

An interaction with José Mourinho, the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager who now manages Tottenham Hotspur, lifted his spirits a bit.

“A lot of famous people had come to see too,” he continued. ‘I remember that after that game, when I left the field, I took a shower, I came out of the locker room and José Mourinho was there.

‘I was standing in the hallway. I had met him before. I walked past him and he gave me a hug. He said nothing. He hugged me. That made me feel a little better to be honest.

‘I’ve seen him, he’s a winner, a great fighter, he achieved a lot in his sport. Some people at that stage would not have known what to say or would not have said the wrong thing. He said nothing. He hugged me, that was it, that helped a little.

“ I was driving home with my wife on the way back from the place. Many discussions about what is happening with my tennis, what is happening, if I change teams, change coach.

“It is very easy to catastrophize it. You do it as the worst thing that ever happened. You have to make so many changes when it was one of those days when Roger played very well, I played very poorly and I had to leave him behind.

“At that time it was difficult to do that when you have been slapped like that in front of 15,000 people in the stadium, millions watching on television, it is not good.”