I remember writing about Andy Murray’s amazing end to 2015 for Ubitennis. He had won not only the Davis Cup with Team GB, but also earnt the admiration of his countryman with the Sports Personality of the Year Award too. Well little did I know that 2016 would be yet another amazing year for the Scotsman, who has scaled the dizzying heights of professional tennis and finally reached World Number One.
His victory at the ATP Paris Masters broke the longest ever wait, for a No2, to become No1. His combined 350+ weeks at second place dwarfs those of the other big three. Murray’s year has seen 8 titles, 12 finals, his 3rd Grand Slam and 2nd Olympic Gold Medal. He has won 74 matches in 2016 with 527 aces, banking an impressive £8.75m in prize money. And now he is the first British man in history to hold the World Number One spots since the records started 43 years ago.
His focus now turns to the season ending ATP World Tour Finals where he will start his tenure as number 1 against Milos Raonic, who he defeated in the Wimbledon final this year. Murray isn’t letting the excitement of his achievement distract him from the showcase event. “Yesterday was a great day, today has just been a normal day at home with the family,” Murray said after the draw for the O2 tournament. “Once you’re out on the court, you don’t think about your ranking. You’re playing against the top eight players in the world. I look forward to getting out there and playing at the O2. “I’ll try and take a few days’ rest now, start hitting again on Thursday. I need a few days’ break. It will be one big push for all the guys. Everyone has played a lot of tennis and hopefully everyone can play well.”
The achievement of becoming world number 1 is not, as many people outside the sport think, a gimmick or attempt to fill out the CV. It is a benchmark of a player’s ability and consistency against their peers. In Murray’s case this is an era where three of the greatest players of all time are also playing. Unfortunately holding such a position is not as easy as keeping it, and some have found in the past that just being there is bad enough. Andre Agassi claims he was at his most miserable during his tenure and John McEnroe who was world number 1 for 170 weeks said it came with a incredible sense of loneliness. “You’re out there on your own island,” he once said. “And you feel like you’re disengaged, not only with the rest of the world, but the rest of your competitors, some of them friends.”
It is not just Tennis where staying top dog is harder than actually getting there. The England Rugby team who won the World Cup in 2003 realised it was the pinnacle of their capabilities when they finished third in the next six nations, and fourth in the next two. It took them a good ten years to recover. The England Cricket team also discovered the curse after becoming the best test nation in 2011 only to be whitewashed in their next game against Pakistan. It also puts a target on your back and for Murray, the main hunter is arch nemesis Novak Djokovic.
It is by no means the mountain summit for Murray though, things could still get better for the Scot. The Australian Open is his best opportunity yet, with Nadal and Federer slowly disappearing and Djokovic looking slightly jaded. Five defeats will be a difficult thing to get over for Murray though. The other slam that is out of his reach has been the French Open, but his continued improvement on clay means that this too is likely to be his best chance to win so far. One thing that seems to be a shoe in is BBC’s Sports Personality yet again! Betting Tips all point to the scotsman. If it has any effect on his future like it did last year Murray could be in for another stellar year in 2017.
Murray has reached the pinnacle of his career so far but there seems to be a crossroads ahead of him. Being World Number One could be a difficult period but is he can keep breaking people’s expectations as he has done then even greater things could be on the horizon.
