The Scot has made the necessary improvements to his game and mentality in 2016 and, with rivals faltering, he can make his stay at the pinnacle a long oneAndy Murray has worked so hard to reach the top of his sport – which he marked emphatically by beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Sunday – that he intends to stay there for as long as he can. There is every chance he will still be No1 in the world when he returns to defend his Wimbledon title next June and he may even be Sir Andy by then.“When I was always fourth in the world, I never liked losing,” he said in the small hours after his 6-3, 6-4...
Scot shrugs off the tiredness that was expected to give Novak Djokovic the edge and leaves little doubt who is the top man in world tennisIt was framed as a question but it sounded more like a threat. Novak Djokovic was merrily destroying the hopelessly outmatched Kei Nishikori on Saturday night when a cry from the stands at the O2 Arena threw the narrative forward to the following evening: “Are you watching, Andy Murray?” Related: Andy Murray defeats Novak Djokovic to end year as world No1 Related: Andy Murray humble in victory against a magnanimous Novak Djokovic Continue reading...
The vitriolic reaction by some to the Scot becoming world No1 reflects coarsening attitudes where support for one side entails denigration of an opponentIf Donald Trump had been a tennis player, he would have been Jimmy Connors. Brash, bombastic, bullying, bludgeoning anything in his way, swollen with entitlement, constantly grabbing his crotch to assert his manhood. If there had been such a thing as Twitter in the 1970s, Connors would have set it on fire. I hated him.Well, I suppose I didn’t hate him, exactly. But I certainly very badly wanted Arthur Ashe to beat him on 5 July 1975, in the final of the Wimbledon men’s singles. In fact I wanted Ashe to humiliate him in the way that,...
It is a towering achievement that the world No1 is essentially no different to the tennis player the game first became aware of over a decade agoPick up any dictionary and check the definition of honesty. There will be references to integrity, loyalty, candour, right-mindedness, authenticity. All of these describe the Andy Murray I have come to know and, without wishing to confer sainthood on the poor man, the best tennis player these islands have had – and the freshly crowned No1 in the world – would still seem to be incapable of telling a lie. Related: Andy Murray celebrates No1 status with Paris win and earns everyone’s respect Mission accomplished. #1 pic.twitter.com/XymlcS2AjyPerhaps the key to his success in the...
Andy Murray is behind the extraordinary trinity of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic but better than many other former No1s and is arguably the best athlete Britain has produced in the past decadeThree years ago in New York, where Andy Murray was defending the first of his three grand slam titles, the Association of Tennis Professionals organised a gala dinner for the 25 players who had topped their rankings since 1973. Murray was not among them.Now, after reaching the final of the Paris Masters thanks to the withdrawal through injury of Milos Raonic here on Saturday that secured him the 235 points he needed to pass Novak Djokovic as world No1, he is moving in their exalted company....