Master class with more to come as top spot beckons

● Andy Murray insists becoming No 1 in the world is not on this year’s agenda, but it could be his for the taking by Christmas

Two weeks in China, two titles won and not a set dropped – it has been a very profitable trip to Asia for Andy Murray. Coming to the end of the best season of his career, the Scot is in the form of his life and now he is breathing down the neck of Novak Djokovic for the world No 1 ranking.

And as Murray goes from strength to strength, so Djokovic is faltering. The once all- conquering Serb has been struggling since his victory at the French Open (where he beat Murray in the final) and has won just 17 matches since that Sunday afternoon.

By contrast, Murray has been all but unstoppable and has won 37 matches and collected the silverware at Queen’s Club, Wimbledon,therioolympics, Beijing and now Shanghai. As Djokovic, pictured, pointed out a couple of months ago, there is one man who has clearly established himself as the best player in the world in the second half of 2016 – and he does not come from Serbia.

Murray’s 7-6, 6-1 thumping of Roberto Bautista Agut in the Shanghai final yesterday was yet another display of power, control and nous from the Scot. The confidence oozes from his every pore at the moment and he is physically and mentally at his very peak. Yes, Bautista Agut threw everything in his kitbag at Murray in the first set but it was never enough. Even when the current world No 2 wavered slightly, dropping his serve as he tried to close out that first set, he regrouped in seconds and then ran away with the tiebreak. After that, there was no way back for the Spaniard.

It was Murray’s sixth title of the year, his 41st overall and it was his 13th Masters 1000 trophy. He has now won more than $9.6 million (£7.8m) in prize money this year alone and he still has three tournaments left to play before the Christmas break.

But it is the No 1 ranking that has captured everyone’s imagination: can Murray do the unthinkable and topple Djokovic? Murray thinks not, not this year at any rate. But the chase is on and Murray is making his move.

“My goal is not to try and reach No 1 this year,” Murray said before the Shanghai final. “I’d have to win pretty much every match between now and the end of the year. And Novak would have to win hardly any. So it’s not in my hands.

“I want to try and get there, but I don’t think doing that by the end of this year is that realistic. So I just want to try and finish this year as strong as I can. Maybe give myself a chance at doing it the early part of next year.”

The mathematics look simple enough: in the Race to London, the tally of ranking points gathered in 2016, Murray is now only 915 points behind Djokovic. He will play in Vienna next week where there are 500 points available to the winner, then he goes to Paris the week after that where there are 1,000 points up for grabs and, finally, he moves on to London for the ATP World Tour Finals where, potentially, the winner can walk away