Murray beats Djokovic in battle for top spot

Djokovic refused to give Murray any leeway in his first three games on serve. The second-ranked Serb was broken once in the first set and twice in the second as the unforced errors piled up.

Murray broke in the first game of the second set before breaking again to take a 4-1 lead. Murray has won in US Open (2012), Wimbledon (2013) and ATP World Tour final (2016).

Andy Murray endured a tough week, having to overcome every other player in the top five of the world rankings.

“I knew that the longer the match went, the worse I was going to feel, and probably the better he was going to play”.

There were concerns that fatigue may be a crucial factor heading into the much-hyped contest, with Murray having played nearly three and a half hours more tennis than Djokovic en route to the final.

The final against Djokovic had a second prize at stake beyond the championship.

It was also a fifth successive title for the 29-year-old, which will see him bank £2m, although for Murray the greatest triumph was ending the 12-year stranglehold of the big three – Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – on the world No1 spot.

“There are a lot of great champions here watching and Novak and I are very lucky to have two of them in our boxes”. Winning four titles in four cities Murray refuses to stop as he has done all this in a short six-week period. I’ve lost many of them, but I am happy to have got the win to clinch the year-end No. 1.

In the first set, with Andy Murray leading 1-0, a frustrated Djokovic began signalling at a specific area of the crowd. The former No. 1 did, however, look to scrape back with a double break back against Murray in the second set, but as he admitted later in the post-match presentation, “it was a little too late”. He deserved to win. “He was just a better player all in all”.

“It wasn’t the best match we could have played but I managed to stay calm”.

When Djokovic beat Murray to win the French Open and hold all four Grand Slam trophies, it seemed inconceivable that his place at the top of the rankings would come under threat, but he has won only one tournament since then.

Murray added the title to the Wimbledon crown and Rio Olympics gold he won during a stunning summer and, despite Djokovic’s Australian Open and French Open titles, there can be little argument the Scot is now the world’s best player. “He deserves the World No. 1”.