Introducing your new world No 1
It’s official: Andy Murray is the best – without even hitting a ball in anger
There were moments in Andy Murray’s career when he doubted he would ever reach the top of the world rankings, he confessed yesterday, after collecting the 240 points that will take him to No 1 tomorrow.
Since Roger Federer won the 2004 Australian Open, only three players have worn the crown. In that time, Federer has been No1 for 302 weeks, Novak Djokovic 223 and Rafael Nadal 141. Such superiority from so small a cabal has never been seen before.
It is testament to Murray’s tenacity that he has kept himself fully engaged in the task, rebounding from any number of disappointments. Yesterday, he finally reached his goal via a slightly anticlimactic route. A withdrawal by Milos Raonic, because of a torn thigh muscle, enabled Murray to reach today’s final of the Paris Masters and thus confirm his accession to the throne.
“It’s something I never expected to do, never thought I was going to do,” said Murray last night. “When you’re behind the guys that I was behind, it’s difficult to keep believing, keep working to try to get there.
“I think that’s the most satisfying thing, because of how good the guys around me have been.
“Obviously they are three of the best players that have ever played the game, and some of the years that they have had in that period have been ridiculous. Like three slams, or double slams, and many Masters Series as well. So it’s taken a great year to get there. I have had to win so many matches, and get to the latter stage of pretty much every tournament, just to be like 20 points ahead.”
Although Murray had always imagined this moment unfolding on the court, he discovered his new position only when Raonic came up to him in the locker room before their scheduled semi-final.
“It was quite strange how it happened, unfortunately. I was watching some videos of Milos’s match yesterday when Milos came in. I quickly closed the iPad. Then he told us he had hurt his quad and he wasn’t going to be able to play.
“Normally, if you’re told someone has pulled out, you immediately start thinking about the next day and what you’re going to do. I didn’t really react. But my team gave me a hug and said, ‘Well done, deserved, we know how hard you’ve worked to get here,’ and stuff.
“So far, the only people I have spoken to on the phone were my wife and Tim [Henman]. I’m sure on Monday [when the rankings are published], I will feel good.
“But if I get defaulted in the match tomorrow, I don’t think I get the points from this week,” Murray concluded with a grin.
“So I need to make sure I’m on my best behaviour, keep my racket in my hands, and all will be well.”
All has certainly been well for British tennis this year. Even though Johanna Konta lost yesterday in the semi-finals of the WTA Tournament of Champions in Zhuhai, we have still seen a series of career-high rankings from Konta, Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans and Murray’s brother Jamie, who went to the top of the doubles chart in March.
In singles, though, Britain has never previously had a No 1 in either the men’s or women’s game, even if Virginia Wade reached No2. Murray is the first player to claim that honour and the 26th man in all to climb to the top of the ladder. At 29, he is also the oldest firsttime No1 since 30-year-old John Newcombe reached the top in 1974 – a fact that can be explained by the logjam of talent ahead of him.
“Everyone hears about how much of a hard worker he is,” said John Isner, who will play Murray in today’s Paris final.
“He beat me very easily last week in Vienna. As I’m in the locker room stewing over that loss, he walks right past me to the practice court, as if he hadn’t played enough tennis already. He certainly deserves to be No 1.”
Further messages of congratulation arrived on Twitter from Boris Becker, Djokovic’s head coach, and Federer himself, who used a crown emoticon as he wrote, “We have a new [crown] in town. Congrats Sir @andy-Murray.”
Tennis might be an individual sport, but Murray’s support staff have nurtured him through to the end of the season in excellent physical shape, even as Djokovic’s once bulletproof body has started to let him down. The world’s two leading players have not faced each other since the French Open final, but the past week has only highlighted the contrast between Murray’s poise and Djokovic’s uncertainty.
It has been quite a role reversal since the end of the clay-court season, when Djokovic held a colossal lead of 8,035 points. Murray admitted yesterday that “I was really down after I lost that match [the French Open final]”, but he has responded with a win-loss record of 44-3: exactly the same as Djokovic’s figures up until that point. The rest of the field are so far adrift that Stan Wawrinka, in third place, has fewer than half Murray’s points.
The start of Murray’s late-season surge coincided with the return of the man he describes as “the best coach I’ve had”: Ivan Lendl. Last night, though, Murray made a point of crediting Jamie Delgado, his assistant coach. “He’s been there every single day from the beginning of this year. He deserves a lot of credit for the work that he’s done with me, as well.”
Another key influence – if an unknowing one – has been Murray’s infant daughter Sophia, who was born on Feb 7. “Having a kid does change things for you,” he said yesterday. “For me, at the end of days, getting to see my kid made tennis not the most important thing any more. It made my mind work a bit differently. And I think that helped.”