New world No 1 Andy Murray wins Paris Masters.

TENNIS: Scot celebrates by claiming eighth tour title of a remarkable season

Andy Murray capped the best season of his tennis career by overtaking Novak Djokovic to be crowned world No 1 for the first time.

The Scot celebrated his rise to the top of the world rankings by beating John Isner 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 in a hard-fought BNP Paribas Masters final in Paris yesterday.

Murray, 29, already assured of the No 1 spot after Milos Raonic’s withdrawal from their semifinal on Saturday, sealed his eighth ATP Tour title of the season with victory over his big-serving 6ft 10in American opponent.

Djokovic was considered virtually untouchable at the start of the year and wins over Murray in the finals of the Australian and French Opens did little to temper that. But, after reuniting with coach Ivan Lendl, Murray took off in pursuit of the spot Djokovic had occupied for 122 weeks.

He won at Queen’s and Wimbledon and then in Rio, Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna.

His ascent to the No 1 spot will be completed when the new rankings are live today and in doing so he will become the first British male to top them since their introduction in 1973.

The Scot took time to share the credit for his achievement. He said: “To my team and all of my family, who are watching back home, this has been an incredible journey for me to get to the top of the rankings, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

World number one Andy Murray said he will focus on maintaining his performance levels rather than on ending the year in top spot.

Murray marked reaching the summit of world tennis by beating big-serving American John Isner in three hardfought sets in the BNP Paribas Masters final in Paris to secure his eighth ATP Tour title of the season.

The 29-year-old Scot, already assured of the number one spot for the first time in his career before yesterday’s 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 win against 6ft 10 Isner, will now prepare for next week’s World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London.

Murray will enter the season-ending showpiece event for the world’s top eight players 405 points ahead of Novak Djokovic, who spent 122 consecutive weeks as number one from July 2014 before his quarter-final defeat in Paris to Marin Cilic.

“I’m not so much thinking about finishing the year as world number one,” Murray told Sky Sports after his victory over Isner in two hours and 18 minutes.

“I wanted to try and get there if possible, but I want to just play well at the O2.

“I feel like some of the years there I’ve not played my best tennis, maybe not done myself justice, so I want to go and play good tennis. It doesn’t guarantee winning against the best players in the world, but I don’t want to finish the year on a bad note having not played well there.”

Isner produced some inspired tennis, especially in the second set, but Murray was clinical, saving his best moments for the biggest points.

The Briton clinched his only break points in the first and third sets at the first attempts to seal the 43rd tour-level title of his career and his 14th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

Murray paid tribute to his family and support team after his victory.

“To my team and all of my family, who are watching back home, this has been an incredible journey for me to get to the top of the rankings. I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said.

“Thanks to them for all their hard work. They make a lot of sacrifices to allow me to compete and travel the world.

“A big thank you to all of you, and I’ll keep working to keep getting better.”

Murray said he did not feel more nervous than usual after Milos Raonic’s withdrawal from their scheduled semifinal clash on Saturday due to a leg injury had seen the Scot overhaul Djokovic at the top of the rankings.

“I actually felt pretty good,” he added. “I was nervous before the match, I had a good practice this morning,” he said.

“It was a tournament, before last year, that I’d always struggled at. I’d never got past the quarter-finals so I wanted to try and win and managed to and I want to keep going.

“It’s been a great year and I want to try and finish it as well as I can.”

To my team and all of my family, who are watching back home, this has been an incredible journey for me to get to the top of the rankings. I couldn’t have done it without you. ANDY MURRAY

Picture: Getty. World No 1 Andy Murray with his coaching team, from left: Steven Kotze, Josh Murray, Jamie Delgado and Mark Bender.

Picture: Getty. Sweet spot: Andy Murray was assured of topping the world rankings even before victory over John Isner in three hard-fought sets at the BNP Paribas Masters final in Paris.