He’s my No1 – Judy toasts world best Murray

Mother’s pride: Judy Murray celebrates son Andy’s feat in becoming Britain’s first tennis world No 1

ANDY Murray will today officially become the best tennis player on the planet. The Scot, 29, will be confirmed as new world No 1 when the ATP rankings are announced.

He deposed Novak Djokovic on Saturday without having to hit a ball when his opponent in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters, Milos Raonic, was forced to withdraw.

Murray cemented his position by beating John Isner in yesterday’s final. Djokovic had held the No 1 spot for a record 122 consecutive weeks.

Murray’s mother Judy, 57, tweeted a picture of herself, champagne in hand as she hugged her son on his private jet, with the words: ‘Mission accomplished #1.’ She tweeted another picture of him as a boy, adding: ‘You’ve come a long way baby.’

It caps an amazing year for Murray, which saw him win a second Wimbledon and retain his Olympic title, as well as becoming a father for the first time.

And it led to renewed calls for a knighthood. Rival and former No 1 Roger Federer tweeted: ‘We have a new king in town. Congrats Sir @andy_murray.’ He is also now the runaway favourite to win the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award for a record third time in four years.

Kensington Palace, the Twitter feed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, said: ‘Congrats Andy Murray – Wimbledon champ, Olympic Gold, and now #1! What a year!’

Murray said: ‘The last few months have been the best of my career and I’m very proud to get to this moment.

‘I feel like getting to No 1, it wasn’t about this week, or about last week. It’s been many years of work to get here.

‘The most satisfying thing is, it’s been such a difficult thing to do in my career.’

To reach the top, Murray has had to overcome Djokovic, Federer and Nadal – widely recognised as three of the greatest players of all time. Fred Perry is the only previous Briton to be world No 1 but that was as an amateur in the 1930s, before the computer rankings of the professional game were introduced in 1973.

Since then, only 26 men have claimed the top spot and Murray is the oldest since Australia’s John Newcombe, aged 30, in 1974. Before Murray, no Briton had been ranked higher than No 4 in the modern era.

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