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Tennis World Reacts To Murray's Rise To No. 1

  • Posted: Nov 05, 2016

Tennis World Reacts To Murray's Rise To No. 1

Nov052016

Players, media and fans congratulate new World No. 1

After Andy Murray reached the pinnacle of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time on Saturday, the tennis world came together to congratulate the Brit on social media.

British Davis Cup captain Leon Smith tweeted:

Former No. 1 Boris Becker and current coach of Novak Djokovic said:

Magnus Norman, who ranked as high as No. 2 and is currently coaching Stan Wawrinka, tweeted:

Current and former ATP World Stars sent their best to the new No. 1:

Members of the media reflected on the enormity of Murray’s achievement:

Fans expressed their joy on social media as well, making Andy Murray a trending topic:

Murray received kudos from fans on Facebook as well:

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British band Coldplay paid tribute to their favourite ATP World Tour player:

Last but not least, from Andy’s No. 1 fan:

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Andy Murray becomes world number one after Raonic withdraws from Paris Masters

  • Posted: Nov 05, 2016

Britain’s Andy Murray will become the world number one for the first time after Milos Raonic withdrew from their Paris Masters semi-final.

Murray, 29, needed only to reach the final in Paris after current number one Novak Djokovic lost to Marin Cilic in Friday’s quarter-final.

But Canadian Raonic announced before Saturday’s match that he was injured.

Murray will be the first British singles player to hold top spot since computerised rankings began in 1973.

The Scot will play John Isner in Sunday’s final, after the American beat Cilic 6-4 6-3 in Saturday’s first semi-final.

Djokovic had topped the rankings for 122 weeks, and completed his career Grand Slam by beating Murray in the French Open final in June.

But Murray has reached 11 finals in his past 12 events, and has won 73 matches in the year, a personal record.

He will be officially confirmed as world number one when the revised rankings are released on Monday.

‘I had trouble getting out of bed’

Raonic, 25, had beaten France’s 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to set up a repeat of July’s Wimbledon final on Saturday.

However, he said that he had felt a problem in his right leg during the victory, which a scan revealed was a tear to his quad.

“Yesterday at I believe 4-2 in the first set I began feeling something in my leg – I didn’t think too much of it at the time,” he said.

“This morning I had trouble waking up and getting out of bed.

“I had some tests and an MRI and they found I have a grade one tear in the right quad so I’m unfortunately not able to compete.”

The stats behind Murray’s rise to number one

  • He is the 26th man to hold the top spot since computerised rankings began in 1973.
  • A player’s ranking is determined by his best 18 tournament results over the preceding 52 weeks.
  • Murray is the second-oldest player to debut at number one behind John Newcombe, who was 30 years and 11 days old when he achieved the feat in 1974.
  • Murray holds the record for the longest time between first becoming number two and becoming number one – seven years and over two months.
  • His seven stints at number two are tied with Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg for the longest in the ATP’s database of week-by-week records, which goes back to June 1984.
  • Seven players since June 1984 have never become number one after becoming number two: Michael Stich, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang, Petr Korda, Alex Corretja, Magnus Norman and Tommy Haas.

Analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent:

Raonic had ankle problems coming into this week. He has qualified for the World Tour Finals in London. He obviously wants to rest and protect that injury.

There’s a huge sense of anti-climax, something you don’t ever associate with Andy Murray. Think of the drama involved when he won Wimbledon for the first time, for that Davis Cup match and that gold medal match a few months ago. Without having to hit a ball he is assured of being at least five points ahead of Novak Djokovic on Monday. Despite the anti-climactic nature it is a magnificent achievement.

He has come from so far back to do this. He was over 8,000 points behind Djokovic when the French Open finished in June. That is a mammoth number of points. He’s been on an incredible run since then. He can now call himself, just like his brother Jamie, a world number one.

A landmark 12 months for Murray

  • November 2015: Helps Great Britain win the Davis Cup team event for the first time
  • December 2015: Voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year for the second time
  • February 2016: Welcomes first child as wife Kim gives birth to daughter Sophia
  • June 2016: Becomes Wimbledon champion for the second time
  • August 2016: Defends Olympic singles title in Rio
  • November 2016: Replaces Novak Djokovic as world number one

Reaction

Murray’s former coach Miles Maclagan: “He deserves to be among the likes of Becker, McEnroe, people who have who won five or six Slams and have been number one.

“He’s got the three Slams at the moment but the two Olympics and the Davis Cup cement his place. He belongs among those greats.”

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Johanna Konta loses to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the WTA Elite Trophy semi-finals

  • Posted: Nov 05, 2016

Top seed Johanna Konta lost 2-6 6-1 6-4 to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals of the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China.

The Briton took the first set comfortably, but lost the initiative in the second and then let a lead slip in the deciding set.

Konta, 25, looked increasingly weary in the final event of the WTA Tour season.

Svitolina will now face Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova, who beat Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-2.

The tournament features the leading 12 players who did not qualify for last week’s WTA Finals in Singapore.

Konta appeared to be cruising to the final, with the Ukrainian having no answer to the power and accuracy of her serve and ground strokes in the opening set.

The world number 10 broke her 22-year-old opponent in the third and seventh games to take it in just 26 minutes.

Svitolina took a bathroom break at the end of the set and the interruption appeared to affect Konta’s rhythm.

After a string of unforced errors, the Briton – under pressure for the first time in the tournament – soon trailed 5-0 in the second.

The momentum of the match had swung round, and though Konta briefly rallied in the third set to open up a 3-1 lead, she couldn’t sustain the recovery and her serve was picked apart again with decisive back-to-back breaks.

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Murray Plays For No. 1 Today In Paris

  • Posted: Nov 05, 2016

Murray Plays For No. 1 Today In Paris

Nov052016

Brit to face Raonic

SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: There is a lot at stake in the semi-finals on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Masters as all four players are trying to win their first title in Bercy. The foursome of Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and John Isner also have an opportunity to improve their Emirates ATP Ranking. 

While the eight-player singles field for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is set, three of the semi-finalists coming to London are looking to leave Paris with their career-best Emirates ATP Ranking.

Murray brings an 8-3 career record against Raonic (winning last seven meetings) and if extends his winning streak to 19 consecutive matches, he’ll become No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time in his career.The 29-year-old Briton has spent 76 weeks at the No. 2 spot and he is looking to become the second-oldest player (John Newcombe, 30, on June 3, 1974) to debut at No. 1. Should Murray reach No. 1, he’ll own the ATP World Tour record for most time between becoming No. 2 and No. 1, having debuted at No. 2 on 17 August, 2009. Murray comes into play on Saturday trailing No. 1 Novak Djokovic by 235 points and if the Scot advances to the final, he will pick up 240 points and move five points ahead of the Belgrade native (see below). Murray would become the first British man and 26th player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since Aug. 23, 1973) to hold No. 1. It would also end Djokovic’s streak of 122 consecutive weeks (223 overall) at No. 1 (since July 7, 2014).

If Raonic defeats Murray for the first time since 2014 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, (4R), he will move from No. 4 to a career-high No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, moving ahead of Stan Wawrinka. Raonic reached the final in Bercy two years ago (l. to Djokovic). The 25-year-old Canadian is trying to reach his fourth career ATP World Tour final, second this season (Indian Wells) and capture his first Masters 1000 crown.

In the other semi-final, Cilic tries to remain unbeaten (6-0) against Isner, who is trying to finish as the top American for the fifth straight year and in the Top 20 for a seventh consecutive season. To do that, the 31-year-old American must reach his third career ATP Masters 1000 final.(2012 Indian Wells, 2013 Cincinnati). Isner is also nine aces away from finishing as the ATP World Tour aces leader this year. Ivo Karlovic leads with 1,131 aces followed by Isner (1,123), who has hit a tournament-high 70 this week. Cilic, who beat Djokovic on Friday for the first time in 15 meetings, has improved to a career-high No. 7 with his first semi-final in Paris. If Cilic reaches the final, he will move up to No. 6.

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