Andy Murray was elevated to the world No 1 position on Saturday afternoon in the most anti-climactic fashion when Milos Raonic had to forfeit their semi-final at the Paris Masters.
Murray became the 26th man to reach the position since the modern rankings came in 43 years ago when the Canadian walked into a snap press conference to announce that he had a tear in his right quad muscle, sustained in the quarter finals.
It means that Murray is guaranteed to move a fractional five points ahead of Novak Djokovic when the new rankings come out on Monday, regardless of what happens in Sunday’s final, which will see him face giant American John Isner.
At 29 years and 174 days Murray will be the oldest first time No 1 since John Newcombe in 1974, and the first British player of either sex to gain the status after a phenomenal run that has seen him go 59-5 in all matches since the Madrid Masters at the start of May.
Raonic was due to be the last obstacle for the 29 year-old Scot to overtake Djokovic, whose reign at No 1 has lasted 122 weeks, and the Canadian is now a doubt for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals that start a week on Sunday.
‘It feels a little bit strange how it’s happened today and obviously unfortunate that Milos is injured,’ said Murray on Saturday, who claimed his ascent to the top of the rankings has been due to hard work.
‘To get to this stage is about 12 months of tournaments. The last few months have been the best of my career and I’m very proud to get to this moment.’
Those 12 months have included a second Wimbledon title and a retention of his Olympic gold
‘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,’ added the Scot.
‘The most satisfying thing is it’s been such a difficult thing to do in my career.
‘In the beginning of my career, I always wanted to win a Grand Slam, but now that I’ve gotten older, getting to number one was something I have tried to do.
‘I needed to improve my consistency and the last couple of seasons I have done that. I’m happy to have done that.’
Murray will be going for his eighth title of 2016 when he tackles Isner, putting him one ahead of Djokovic, who was beaten in Friday’s quarter finals.
2003 – 540 2004 – 411
2005 – 64 2006 – 17
2007 – 11 2008 – 4
2009 – 4 2010 – 4
2011 – 4 2012 – 3
2013 – 4 2014 – 6
2015 – 2 2016 – currently 1
7 – Number of titles won (which as led to £8million in prize money thus far)
12 – The BNP Paribas Masters in Paris marks Murray’s 12th final of the year
3 – Murray won his third grand slam title at Wimbledon
2 – Success in Rio brought him a second Olympic gold medal
73 – Matches won, following a semi-final walkover against Milos Raonic in Paris
9 – Matches lost
22 – The longest unbeaten stretch of Murray’s career came between the French Open in June and Cincinnati in August
5 – Murray became the first player to win five titles at Queen’s Club
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