When I wrote my last post I was thinking about Earnie Shavers. Which I know will upset people of throwing the boxing angle (sorry TTW). That is the sport from both a professional journalistic/promotional level and paternal lineage that I am most connected with. Earnie Shavers fought at a time when there was Muhammad Ali (a fighter he deserved no less than a draw when he fought), Larry Holmes, George Foreman, and Joe Frazier. If you put Shavers maybe 10-12 years later he would've been a HW champion especially when there was the alphabet soup of champions between the WBC, WBA, and IBF until Mike Tyson became the undisputed champion. Murray played in a time where 3 guys took 64 slams between them. (unprecedented). No other ATP player won more than 3 (Wawrinka also tied with 3).
Murray won in "fast grass" and indoor tournaments (including 1 title in carpet) does this mean if he played 30 years ago he can't win indoor carpet and Fescue Grass? Did Djokovic and Nadal benefit from modern racquet technology and homogenous courts? Djokovic was 1-3 in Grass Finals outside of Wimbledon and Nadal won Queens only once and won Stuttgart which is essentially the same composition as Wimbledon. Jimmy Connors who won 4 Grass slams might win more than 2 Wimbledon in modern grass. Ivan Lendl who was 0-3 in Grass finals (includes 1 AO) likely becomes a Calendar Grand Slam Champion playing today.
I agree with the poster who said he was the fourth best of his generation. What is the fourth best of their generation between 1984-2003 before Federer took over? Sampras, Lendl, and Agassi likely were considered the most accomplished as Connors and Mcenroe only got 2 slams in that time frame. The fourth best are players like Becker, Edberg and Wilander who all in the mix. All of whom are considered ATG.
Murray was able to win 2 Gold Medals after going through Olympic Style Drug testing. I'm not accusing anyone of doping but still that something that is interesting. Use the search forum tool and see my previous posts on the topics regarding blood passports, random testing, WADA etc.
Is Murray an ATG? No, as I said he needed 2-3 more big wins to reach that status. He still won over 700 matches and his among the highest winning percentages of the ATP era. Obviously, he is going to the Hall of Fame in Newport, RI. The guy made the finals in all 4 slams, Olympics, and YEC which is something that many who are considered ATG didn't accomplish. At minimum, he is much more than a "mug" which some posters have suggested.