Henman "much better than me", claims Murray
Andy Murray claims he still has a way to go to equal Tim Henman's career achievements
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Monday, 20, Oct 2008 09:08
British number one Andy Murray has said he still has a long way to go until he can claim to have matched the achievements of his predecessor, Tim Henman.
Murray has already surpassed Henman's career-best record of five tournament finals in a single season, as well as notching a grand slam final appearance - which Henman never managed.
The Scot has also equalled Henman's career-high world ranking of number four, leading some pundits to suggest that - at the tender of age of 21 - he has already usurped the now-retired veteran as Britain's greatest male tennis player since Fred Perry.
However, Murray has downplayed the comparisons - saying he has to prove himself over a number of years before he reaches the same level as the Englishman.
"Tim was definitely much, much better than me," said Murray.
"Over eight or nine years he was in the top ten, always playing well in Wimbledon, making the semi-finals in all the grand slams [with the exception of the Australian Open].
"I've only passed the semis once, I still have a long way to go to achieve what he did."
Murray accepted it was "great to make a little bit of history" by becoming the first Briton to win more than one Masters Series title following back-to-back victories in Cincinnati and now Madrid.
Greg Rusedski and Henman both won one title each in Paris in 1998 and 2003, respectively, and Murray admitted surpassing this mark was "huge".
"Although Tim and Greg have achieved a lot more than I have over a long period in tennis, I've done something that neither of them were able to do," he added.