With Novak Djokovic having lost in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Masters, Andy Murray only had to reach the title match in order to clinch the No. 1 ranking in the world when the new list comes out on Monday. Although Murray did not exactly win on Saturday, he didn’t have to. Instead, the No. 2 seed benefited from a walkover given to him by Milos Raonic.
“Yesterday at 4-2 in the first set (against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) I started feeling some pain in my leg,” Raonic noted. “I didn’t think too much of it at that point. This morning I had trouble waking up and getting out of bed, so we did some tests. I had an MRI half an hour ago and they found that I have a Grade 1 tear in the right quad. Unfortunately, I’m not able to compete against Andy.”
“It feels a little bit strange how it’s happened today and obviously unfortunate that Milos is injured,” Murray commented. “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.
“In the beginning of my career, I always wanted to win a Grand Slam. But now that I’ve gotten older, getting to No. 1 was something I have tried to do. I needed to improve my consistency and the last couple of seasons I have done that.
“It’s something I have never achieved before and wasn’t something that I necessarily felt like I was going to do even this year, even after the French Open or the beginning of the year. I was so far behind in terms of points and the amount of matches it would take me to win. I never expected to do what I had done after the French Open, so I was really down after I lost that match.
“But things can turn around quickly in this sport and it’s just a strange sport. You had Novak losing yesterday to a guy (Marin Cilic) who he won 14 times in a row against. And then John (Isner) beating Cilic today who he’d lost six in a row against. Stuff can turn around quick.”
Murray will be hoping things don’t turn around in his head-to-head series against Isner when they collide in Sunday’s final. All seven of their previous encounters have gone the way of the Scot, who is 6-0 against Isner on hard courts. They just recently squared off in the Vienna quarterfinals, in which Murray dominated 6-1, 6-3.
A much different Isner, though, has been on display in Paris. At risk of missing out on a 2017 Australian Open seed when this event started, Isner will find himself back in the top 20 on Monday regardless of his result against Murray. The 6’10” American has advanced this week with wins over Mischa Zverev, David Ferrer, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jack Sock, and Cilic. Previously 0-6 at the hands of the London-bound Croat, Isner cruised past Cilic 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals.
“I took the court today with a lot of confidence,” Isner said. “It’s the first time all year coming into a match I’d won four matches in a row. So I knew I was playing well. I knew I was playing the right way, and really, from the get-go, I was serving extremely well. That took a lot of pressure off me.”
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who ya got?
The Pox on ? will win.
“The King is dead… long live the King:”
https://twitter.com/NialSmith/status/794913657352286209/photo/1
Wished Andy had to fight his way to the finals instead of W/o received from Milos. Hope Milos is able to play at WTF. He stated he has thorn quadriceps muscle which may need time to heal…we shall see..
Good for Andy to be No 1! Great achievement! It makes tennis more interesting!
Looking forward to AO 2017!
Vamos Rafa!
Oh, I forgot…
Andy in 2! NID
What a special moment this is for Murray fans.
It”s been a long, windy and extremely bumpy upward climb, but I am so glad he finally scaled the mountain as it would have been one of the great injustices in tennis had he reached the end of his career without achieving World Number 1 ranking. And now he has every opportunity to hold onto it for a good six months.
I used to call him ‘Muzz’ routinely but something doesn’t feel quite so fitting about that now, as his stature has grown. He has come an awfully long way from the teenager who lit up expectations by beating Lleyton Hewitt to win his first title in San Jose, or even the Braveheart hero who roared defiantly from practically the fron row of Centre Court on the way to turning around a two-set deficit to a young Richard Gasquet.
He absolutely, thorougly deserves this. It is little matter that the final yard of the climb was completed without an opponent, as this was a marathon, not a sprint – as Djokovic, who won a recent title after a string of injured or withdrawn opponents faltered, would agree, these things even themselves out over the course of a whole year.
What would be nice today would be to see Murray come out in full, unfettered flow, displaying his full range, and exhibit to a rightly impressed world just why he is now the best tennis player on Planet Earth.
That said, if he can simply, as I would expect, come out and do what he has been doing, I would expect him to life this, one of his few unlifted Masters trophies, in two sets: 7-5, 6-3.
Hi Alex
Great post. You triggered so many memories. The win against Gasquet was epic. Somebody nicknamed him Popeye after he flexed his bicep at the end of that match. It was only after Cincinnati I recognised he was not destined to be another Henman.
Thanks, Ed.
Yes, I remember that cincy final – I think he beat nole 7-6, 7-6 under a scorching sun?
I’ll never forget a very early article on Murray by Simon Barnes of The London Times in which he surged with British pride at Murray’s all-the-way potential, but ended by urging patience: “Murray – too good to hurry.” I think that comment has turned out to be more prescient than even he himself might have imagined!
Andy in 2 tight sets. Go Andy!
Agree RC possibly both will be TBs ….
Andy must hold his serve, at the very least! Fighting off bp’s that game ?
Andy has such a killer ROS — but if John is having great serving day and is confident, there’s nothing much anyone can do and he likely wins the TB. Part of what I don’t like about the extra tall giants and tennis courts is how out of proportion it all is. The court needs to be bigger and the net higher to even make it somewhat the same sport or skill when serving. There’s such a ridiculous advantage with height on serve.
I do love a great serve like Federer’s, Delpo’s, Sascha’s. Andy, Novak, Rafa a have improved serves but I also enjoy watching the Gilles Simon’s, Novak’s, Rafa’s, Goffin’s ground games and the tennis players that can run and cover the court with their feet and maintain a high level of cardio fitness. I’ll get tired of tennis when it comes down to mostly short points and big serving. Right now I’m glad they are not all nearly seven feet tall.
How hard is it to cover the net when he has THAT wingspan and height!! It’s a miracle to lob him.
Come on Andy!!
And Muller isn’t as tall as Karlovic and Isner. I don’t know…all I know is that tennis looks far different when such variation in height. Kudos to the shorter ones that can find their way against such giants. And I guess credit to a giant that can move halfway well and pick up a low ball. At least Isner looks fit and not paunchy like Sock.
@#$% Have to agree with Hawk-eye.
Also has much to do with the faster surface this year in Paris giving the servebot Pox on ? an added advantage.
Such a horrible match for a final.
Rafa: “Congrats to my friend Andy Murray on becoming World Number One!”
https://twitter.com/RafaelNadal/status/795222961951272960/photo/1
judy murray: “A fine bromance”
https://twitter.com/JudyMurray/status/795232441862651908
I just hope every single person who hates Isner and considers him “pox on tennis” is watching this right now. One of the most exciting matches of the year.
It’s a good match, manwerty. 😉 Not my favorite but I also get you and Benny, (I think) maybe not get you guys all the way tho 😀 Cheers.
It’s not.
It’s crap serve dominated from one side. Isner played a crap game when he was broken.
For a final, it’s poor one dimensional tennis.
And I don’t hate Isner. He’s a very nice guy on and off the court from what I’ve seen. Glad he dumped his last coach who I can’t say the same for.
However I do hate his tennis.
That’s what it is. Karlovic and Isner both great personalities – actually would like getting to know either off court, I’d guess. But…imo, it’s out of proportion on the dimensions of a tennis court and net.
As long as they avoid fast 90’s style courts, servebots are generally no match to good multidimensional players.
Isner has zero point comstruction beyond the serve.
Hope Nole finds his desire to win again.
I miss his flawless game already.
I think fed has a great shot at another slam next year.
Almost hope Isner wins so Paris won’t be so dumb to have such a fast court next year.
Almost.
Not quite 😀
Isner has just eight career wins over top 30 players in TEN years without a tiebreak.
Sad.
Like watching a lopsided car — one of those convertable Ferrari’s driving down the road with a massively tall and big guy, head and shoulders sticking out of the top of the car driving it and his passenger is below the windshield where one is supposed to be.
Hahahahahaha
I smell another dumb tiebreak from The Pox on ?.
My nightmare is having one of the seven foot servbot’s start winning GS’s and dominate the feild for years and years. All the hope goes out the door. It’s basketball, not tennis.
Would only happen at Wimbledon when courts weee faster.
That’s how Goran won.
Well at least WTA isn’t completely out of proportion yet. I LOVE Petra Kvitova. Her height is fine. Also loved it when Elina Svitolina made her run. One sided Zhuhai final but it was interesting to see Petra performing and dominating ahead of Fed Cup final.
Bring back best of 5 sets for masters 1000’s!!
Agreed.
YES!!!!
Andy slays The Pox on ?!!!!
That was tedious to watch.
Andy will be 405 points ahead of Djoko in next week’s Rankings!
Thanks Google!