Andy Murray claimed the world number one rank in professional tennis for the first time in his professional career after winning his semi-final game against Milos Raonic in the Paris Masters tournament. Murray only needed to reach the finals after now former number one Novak Djokovic fell to Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals round 6-4, 7-6.
Raonic withdrew from his semi-finals game against Murray after he suffered an injury in his right quadriceps during his quarterfinals win against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Raonic's withdrawal ended Djokovic's 122-week reign at number 1 and marked the beginning of Murray's winning streak, eventually leading to his Paris Masters championship.
Murray is the first British player and the 26th overall to be ranked number one since the computerized ranking for the Paris Masters began in 1973. He is just the third person to hold that title since Roger Federer reached the feat in 2004. The only two other players who became number one are Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
"It's been many years to get here. It's been such a difficult thing to do because of how good the guys around me have been," said Murray. "To get to no.1 isn't about today, but it's about 12 months of tournaments to get to this stage," the Paris Masters champion said.
Djokovic was quick to congratulate Murray on his latest achievement. "He's definitely a player who deserves that," said Djokovic. "To see how he has raised his level in the last 12 months is quite extraordinary," he added.
Murray celebrated his first taste at number one by bagging his first Paris Masters title by defeating American Jon Isner 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. He has spent the past seven years being a number 2 seed and his time has finally come. However, Djokovic could still recapture the number 1 seed if he wins every match in the ATP Finals in London.
For now, Murray is enjoying his view from the top. Isner commented on the hard work put by Murray to get to where he is now. "Well done to Andy Murray for the title and getting to number one in the world," said Isner. "Every single week I am in the same locker room as you, and see how hard you work, you deserve it," he added.
The top seed validates what Andy Murray has done over the course of his career which includes three grand slams, gold medals in the London and Rio Olympics, and the Davis Cup title in 2015, and the Paris Masters.
