"Andy Murray was too perfect of a person so God made him an Arsenal fan" - Tennis fans react to the Brit's hilarious dig at Roger Federer after landing in Basel

Andy Murray is as famous for his sense of humor as he is for many incredible achievements throughout his career. The British great's cheeky but friendly dig at Roger Federer after landing in Basel earlier this week brought out many laughs from tennis fans, who flooded social media with reactions to the same.

Murray is currently in Federer's hometown for the Swiss Indoors ATP 500 tournament. Upon arriving, Murray texted Federer, with whom he shares a great rapport, that he had reached the city of one of the greatest athletes of all time. Interestingly, Murray was not referring to Federer, but to Arsenal star Granit Xhaka, who is also the captain of the Swiss national team.

The three-time Grand Slam champion revealed his chat with Federer while speaking to German publication Aargauer Zeitung.

"I messaged Roger, when I landed in Basel and I said, 'I just touched down in the city of one of the world's greatest ever athletes: Granit Xhaka," Murray said.

It was a clever dig from Arsenal fan Andy Murray, and fans praised him for his humorous quip on social media.

"Andy Murray was too perfect of a person so God made him an Arsenal fan," one fan wrote on Twitter.

"This is the most Andy Murray thing to do ever," wrote another account.

Another fan opined that Federer, too, would have appreciated the humor behind the message and himself would have laughed at it.

"Andy Murray is just having fun. Roger Federer is way too comfortable in his own skin to not laugh at Andy’s tweet," read a tweet.

Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans to Murray expressing his affection towards Arsenal and Xhaka while joking with his great rival and good friend Federer:

Andy Murray shares fond memories from his last trip to Basel 17 years ago

Andy Murray and Kim Sears at the 2012 US Open

Andy Murray's trip to Basel for this week's Swiss Indoors tournament is his first in 17 years. He last came to Basel for the 2005 edition of the tournament and was in the city for just one week back then. However, that trip is still fresh in his memory as Murray and his now-wife Kim Sears first became a couple during that week.

When asked about his trip to Basel 17 years ago, Murray reminisced about the special moment.

"I have some memories from that week. One, it’s actually the week when me and my wife became a couple for the first time," Murray said in a video posted by Tennis TV. "We met at the US Open and then we went on a couple of dates since then and I asked the question, when we were in Basel, ‘are we a couple now, like officially?'"

While Sears was not with him in Basel at the time, Murray revealed that he asked the question via text message.

Murray won his first-round match at the 2022 Swiss Indoors Basel on Tuesday, beating Roman Safiullin in three sets. He faces Roberto Bautista Agut next, in a Round of 16 match on Thursday.