Three wins needed to reach No1
Andy Murray has been playing down his chances of becoming world No 1 by insisting he would have to win the next three tournaments in Vienna, Paris and the end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals in London.
He has made a tremendous effort to reach the pinnacle after an incredible second half of the season when he has won six titles including his second Wimbledon plus retaining Olympic gold.
At the halfway point of the 2016 season, Novak Djokovic opened a huge lead over Murray following his maiden title at Roland Garros but the Dunblane star’s back-toback titles in Beijing and Shanghai have seen him less than 1000 points behind the Serb in the Emirates ATP Race To London for top player of the year.
He still sits 2400 points behind Djokovic in the world rankings – although that could change over the next few weeks.
Murray said:“I still have to win three more tournaments. That’s not an easy thing to do. I have never had success like I have had the last few months in my career, so to keep that going, I’m aware it’s going to be a difficult thing to do.
“I need to keep myself motivated and be smart with my schedule and my time off, as well.”
His latest win in Shanghai came in his 10th successive straight sets win with Roberto Bautista Agut being his latest victim. The Spaniard had shocked Djokovic in the semi-final but apart from a couple of games towards the end of the first set when he broke Murray to level at 5-5, there was only going to be one winner.
Murray re-focused to win the tie break 7-1 then took the second set 6-1 to land his 13th Masters title.
He is taking this week off before returning to action in Vienna next Monday.