“I’M Very Proud To Have Done It” Says Andy Murray As He Becomes Tennis No.1 Player

 

Andy Murray has revealed that he felt the world No 1 ranking was not within his grasp up until the last couple of years. Reaching the final of the Paris Masters coupled with Novak Djokovic's quarter-final exit to Marin Cilic, means Murray will take over from the Serb at the top of the world rankings on Monday.

Murray, who first reached the No 2 spot in 2009 and has held the position for 76 weeks in total during his career, admits that it became a goal that edged closer the further up the game he got.

He said “I'm very proud to have done it, it wasn't something I dreamt of a kid. I just wanted to play tennis and become a professional tennis player and then to try and get into the top 100. Once I got there, you then want to get into the top 50 and then the top 20. From No 2 to No 1 seems like a small gap. It's only one place, but it is by far the hardest one to reach and it's been a long time. I thought about it a bit this year and last year, but before that it wasn't something I felt that close to. It's only been the last few months that I got close, as Novak was 7,000-8,000pts ahead of me after the French Open, so it's been a great few months. It's a lot of hard work, many, many years I have been on the tour and not got there and I've always been behind Novak, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, who are three of the best players of all time, without question. I've had to persevere and I have had to be very patient, keep learning and keep improving. I have done that, but it's not only myself; it's been with my whole team that I work with, who help me a lot. Big thanks to Jamie Delgado, as he is with me every single week of the year. Getting to No 1 takes 12 months and he has been there for every single moment, all of the ups and downs. He has helped me a lot.”