Murray Is New World No. 1 After Paris Masters
Paris. Andy Murray celebrated his impending rise to the world number one ranking with a 6-3 6-7(4) 6-4 victory against John Isner to claim his maiden Paris Masters title and his eighth tournament win of the season on Sunday (06/11).
The Briton, who will take over from Novak Djokovic at the top of the ATP rankings on Monday, survived a barrage of aces against the towering American to win his 14th career Masters tournament.
The three-times grand slam champion gave little breathing space to Isner, who was hoping to clinch his first Masters title after two lost finals.
Murray will be the top seed at the season-ending ATP World Tour finals at the O2 Arena in London from Nov. 13 to 20.
"Thanks to my team and my family who were commenting back home. This has been an incredible journey for me to get to the top of the rankings, I could have not done it without all of you," said Murray.
Isner said of Murray: "He's the guy that everyone is looking up to right now. And he's been at the top of the game for so long. Whether it's two, three, four in the world, everyone knows how hard he works and how dedicated he is.
"He's a big inspiration to myself and I'm sure he's a big inspiration to other players, as well."
The double Olympic champion entered the contest with a 7-0 record against Isner and his recent form, which had helped him to win six of his eight previous tournaments since losing the French Open final, suggested he would have the upper hand.
Murray, who now has 43 titles to his name, broke in the sixth game on his first opportunity when Isner sent a backhand long.
The American, who served a total of 18 aces, had two chances to break back in the following game as he opened up a 40-15 lead.
Murray saved the first with a routine volley after managing to lob his 2.08-metre opponent, and forced Isner to bury a backhand into the net on the second.
He bagged the opening set with an unreturned serve having made only four unforced errors.
Isner earned three break points thanks to a splendid drop shot followed by a forehand winner. Murray saved them all, the last one with a second-serve ace, and staved off another one to stay level.
In the tiebreak, Isner went 4-2 up when Murray double faulted, and the American closed it out with a booming forehand winner to send the contest into a decider.
Both players looked clumsy but it was Murray who played a tighter game in the end, ending the contest on his first match point when Isner netted a backhand volley.
Securing World No. 1 After Raonic's Absence
After all the battles and hard graft chasing the world number one spot, Briton Andy Murray arrived there without hitting a ball on Saturday as Milos Raonic pulled out of their Paris Masters semi-final due to a leg injury.
The triple grand slam winner, who will take over from Serb Novak Djokovic at the top when the rankings are updated on Monday, still went out on center court for a practice session in front of a bemused crowd.
"I never thought I'd be No. 1 in the world and never, never imagined that was something that was going to happen," Murray told a news conference.
Fourth seeded Canadian Raonic explained his injury.
"Yesterday at I believe 4-2 in the first set I started feeling some pain in my leg," he said, referring to his match against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
"I didn't think too much of it at that point. I had an MRI half an hour ago ... they found that I have a grade one tear in the right quadriceps."
Raonic is now doubtful for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals to be held in London from Nov. 13-20.
"I still have the possibility of making it but I was told five to 10 days so I'm on the borderline," he said.
Murray is the first Briton to get to number one and, at 29 years and 174 days, he will be the oldest player to reach the summit for the first time since Australian John Newcombe in 1974.
Djokovic, number one for 122 weeks since July 2014, was knocked out in the quarter-finals by ninth seed Marin Cilic on Friday.
Croat Cilic lost 6-4 6-3 to American John Isner in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Isner broke in the ninth game of the first set and served three aces in a row as he saved a break point in the second to down Cilic, who appeared to lack focus a day after eliminating Djokovic.
Isner became the player to serve the most aces this year - 1,133 - as he claimed his first victory over Cilic in seven matches.
"I took the court today with a lot of confidence. It's the first time all year coming into a match I'd won four matches in a row," Isner told a news conference.
"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.
"I was just taking my cuts from the back of the court. Returning pretty well, returning aggressively. I certainly put it all together today. It was the best match I have played all year."
Reuters
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