"Absolute genius" - Andy Murray recalls fanboying over 'favorite athlete' Ronaldinho during Barcelona training days

Andy Murray recently expressed his admiration for Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho Gaucho.

Murray, a three-time Major winner, moved to Barcelona for training at the age of 15, just a few years before he turned pro. During this time, he was exposed to Barcelona's Ronaldinho, one of the Blaugrana's best-ever players.

Murray took to his X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday (December 15) to give his flowers to Ronaldinho. He asserted that the 2002 World Cup winner was his "favorite athlete" growing up and disclosed that he watched him live many times during his teenage years.

The Brit also praised Ronaldinho's ability to perform "ridiculous skills" on the field.

"My favorite athlete growing up. When I moved to Barcelona to train at 15 I got the chance to watch him live a bunch of times. Absolute genius. Always smiling. I’d arrive early at the stadium just to watch him warm up as he’d be doing ridiculous skills/tricks like in the video," Andy Murray wrote on X along with a few emojis.

A screen capture of Andy Murray's post on X

Murray, meanwhile, developed his tennis game at the Sanchez-Casal Academy when he was not watching Ronaldinho ply his trade in the La Liga. He would turn pro shortly soon in 2005, before making a foray into the ATP top 10 rankings in 2007.

The Brit had to go head-to-head with the famed Big 3 trio of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer in the coming years. He recorded great results despite their monopoly of the ATP tour though, winning three Major titles and spending 41 weeks as the World No. 1.

Andy Murray believes Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo

Andy Murray is a devout football fan and supports Hibernian F.C. and Arsenal. The 36-year-old has a good understanding of the ins and outs of the game, which led to one fan asking for his take on the fierce Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo debate earlier this year.

Appearing on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast to answer some questions from fans in May, Murray was asked to choose between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Brit was quick with his response and picked the Argentine. He insisted that his 2022 World Cup triumph tipped the scales in his favor.

“Uh, good question, I think after the World Cup, I've gotta go with Messi,” the former World No. 1 said on the ATP's podcast.

Andy Murray picking Lionel Messi wasn't surprising at all, considering how many times the Brit has raved over the Argentine. Last year, he had even gone as far as to suggest that the F.C. Barcelona legend was the "best athlete of all time".

"Is messi the best athlete of all time? Forget just football. What a man," he wrote on X in December 2022.