Andy Murray could soon become the World No.1
Andy Murray inched closer to the World No.1 spot yesterday after beating Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters. With three tournaments to play in the near future, Murray has a solid chance of dethroning Novak Djokovic from the numero Uno position by the end of the year.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic made an early exit after losing to Spainās Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinals of Shanghai Masters. However, second-seeded Murray beat Agut in the final to earn 1,000 points to reduce the point difference between him and Djokovic. Djokovic still leads the charts at 12,900 points against Murray's 10,485 currently. But the gap between the two is down to 915 points in the 'Race to London charts' with both going toĀ 10,600 and 9,685 by the time of the year-ender thanks to the elapsed points.
The Briton has three more tournaments to play in this year. He will take part in the Vienna Open which begins on 24th October which will be followed by the Paris Masters and season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London. With Djokovic seeing a sudden and inexplicable dip in form lately and Murray enjoying the form of his life, tennis may see a new No.1 soon.
Serbian ace Djokovic is not slated to take part in the Vienna Open and will compete in the Paris Masters and ATP World Tour. A tournament win for the Briton in Djokovic's absence may result in an addition of another 500 points which will further reduce the difference.
However, if Murray wins the Vienna Open and Paris Masters title and Djokovic crashes out before the finals in Paris, then Murray will not have to wait till ATP World Tour to be the number one.
Murray told Sky Sports: "My goal wasn't to finish number one at the end of this year but in the early parts of next year there is an opportunity - 900 points doesn't seem like loads. But Novak will win matches. He is the best player in the world. I don't think he has lost an indoor game in a long time."
Murray said, "I still have to win three more tournaments. That's not an easy thing to do.
I have never had success like I have had the last few months in my career, so to keep that going, I'm aware it's going to be a difficult thing to do,ā reported the ATP Website.