The 11 men to have bagelled Andy Murray: Djokovic, Federer feature

Oli Dickson Jefford 07 Apr 2024 1:08 PM

Andy Murray in action at the Miami Open

Andy Murray is rightly hailed as one of the greatest competitors in tennis history after a truly extraordinary career.

Despite being up against the ‘Big Three’ Murray has still achieved a huge level of success, winning two Wimbledon titles, a US Open title, and two Olympic gold medals.

The highs of his career have been immense but, like all great players, he hasn’t had it all his way at points.

On 15 occasions, Murray has lost a set without winning a single game, spanning from his Grand Slam debut all the way into the latter stages of his career.

We take a look at the 11 men to have handed the tennis great a bagel.

David Nalbandian – Wimbledon 2005

The first bagel of Murray’s senior career came as his maiden SW19 campaign came to a close against former finalist Nalbandian in 2005.

Murray had impressed to reach the third round and looked set to pull off a stunning upset against the 18th seed, who reached the final back in 2002.

But the Argentine wrestled back control of the match, prevailing 6-7(4), 1-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-1.

Arnaud Clement – US Open 2005

Runner-up at the Australian Open in 2001, French star Clement managed to fend off Murray in a topsy-turvy clash at Flushing Meadows just a few weeks after the Brit’s Wimbledon breakthrough.

Despite blowing a two-set lead, Clement eventually bagelled Murray in the final set to claim a 6-2, 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-7(4), 6-0 and reach the third round.

Nikolay Davydenko – US Open 2006

12 Months on from his loss to Clement, Murray had surged up the rankings to be the 17th seed at the US Open and battled Davydenko for a place in the last eight.

Considered by many one of the best players to never win a major, Davydenko was a ferocious competitor on his day and proved too strong on this occasion.

Murray fought valiantly but was ultimately beaten 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

Dominik Hrbaty – Paris 2006

One of the more unheralded names on this less, Slovak Hrbaty had the better of his British rival on this occasion.

The former world No 12 edged a tight close set and then stormed to a 7-6(6), 6-0 victory.

Novak Djokovic – Miami 2007, Monte Carlo 2008, Australian Open 2015, Miami 2015

There can be little doubt that Djokovic has been the toughest opponent of Murray’s career, so often proving his foil, so there should be no surprise that the Serb features on this list.

Two of the four bagels handed to Murray by Djokovic have come in Miami, in the semi-final of 2007 – a match Djokovic just lost one game in – before winning the deciding set 6-0 in the final in 2015.

The world No 1 also bagelled Murray in the last 16 of Monte Carlo back in 2008, while he ended his four-set victory in the 2015 Australian Open final without dropping a game in the concluding set.

Stan Wawrinka – Canada 2008

For the first time in his career, Murray managed to win despite dropping a set 6-0 when he downed future major winner Wawrinka 16 years ago in Canada.

After a strong first set, the Brit wobbled badly in the second but fought back to eventually beat his Swiss rival 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the quarter-final.

Fernando Gonzalez – Roland Garros 2009

Known for possessing one of the biggest forehands tennis has ever seen, former Australian Open runner-up Gonzalez proved too strong for Murray in this clay court clash 15 years ago.

Third seed Murray was the higher ranked of the two but was not entirely comfortable on clay at this point in his career, and the Chilean took advantage.

The 12th seed claimed a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win to reach his first and only Roland Garros semi-final.

Marcos Baghdatis – Roland Garros 2010

Murray was once again bagelled by a former Australian Open finalist at Roland Garros in 2010, though this time managed to come out on the winning side.

The future world No 1 was two sets up before Baghdatis emphatically took the third set, but Murray eventually regained his form in a 6-2, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 triumph.

Gael Monfils – Canada 2010

A few months after his match at Roland Garros, Murray was again able to come through on the winning side despite losing a set to love against the mercurial Monfils.

Monfils’ natural talent was on full display as he rallied from dropping the opener to force a decider in emphatic fashion, though the Brit responded to ultimately win 6-2, 0-6, 6-3.

Roger Federer – 2014 Tour Finals

One of the most infamous losses of Murray’s career came when he was well and truly taken to the cleaners by Federer at the ATP Finals in 2015.

Murray needed a positive result to have a chance of progressing to the semi-final, but could not find any way to challenge the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Federer produced a simply incredible performance, winning 6-0, 6-1 in one of the most emphatic wins of his career.