Tennis: “Xhaka is the greatest of all time” – Murray jokes about Federer

“The fans here love tennis,” enthused Andy Murray on Tuesday after his three-set victory at the start of the Swiss Indoors, adding with a laugh: “You don’t often experience a full stadium at 3 p.m. during the week. Maybe some of the fans should actually be at work.” On his Basel comeback after a 17-year absence, Andy Murray found it harder than many expected against the Russian Roman Safiullin (ATP 93). The 35-year-old veteran lost the first set in a tie-break, but fought back and ended up winning 6-7, 6-3 and 6-4.

Before the opening game against the Russian, Andy Murray chatted with in an interview CH Media out of the sewing box and talked about what connects him to Switzerland. The ardent Arsenal fan almost goes into raptures when he talks about Granit Xhaka. «Of course I know that granite is from here. He is captain and is having a very good season. Last Sunday he scored another wonderful goal, »said the three-time Grand Slam champion. Murray’s admiration for the Nati captain goes so far that he even teased his buddy and self-confessed FCB fan Roger Federer with a text message.

“As soon as I arrived in Basel, I wrote Roger Federer a message with the following content: “Hey Roger, I’ve just landed in the city of one of the greatest athletes of all time: Granit Xhaka,” reports the Scotsman, who is known for his dry humor .

In addition to Granit Xhaka and the tennis tournament in Basel, Murray also knows the Bernese Oberland a little. «One of my best friends, Dani Vallverdu, who coached Stan Wawrinka, got married in Gstaad. I was there. A beautiful place,” reveals the tennis star, who also played the “Match for Africa” ​​for Federer’s Foundation with the Maestro in Zurich in 2017.