Murray retains Tennis No 1 title

“I’m very happy to win and to be world number one is very special”, Murray said afterwards.

Novak Djokovic intends to enjoy a period of rest and recuperation before turning his attention to regaining the number-one men’s singles ranking from Andy Murray.

Murray took three hours and 38 minutes to beat Milos Raonic 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (11-9) to reach his first season-ending final.

Djokovic needed just 66 minutes to dispatch Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1. “It’s something I never, never expected”, Murray said. “Just kept getting momentum and it gave me motivation toward the end of the year when I was exhausted”. This one was a big match and I managed to get over the line.

For all of Murray’s achievements this year, this was the first time he played a top-five opponent since June, when he lost to Djokovic in the French Open final.

Murray heads into Sunday’s final as the in-form player of the moment, having won four titles in four different cities in the past six weeks, but given his record against Djokovic it’s a tough one to predict.

In the final set, Murray was twice unable to serve out the match and he squandered three match points in the second tiebreak. The pair were close enough in the rankings that it was a shootout to determine who was the best player on the planet.

Djokovic, meanwhile, jogged to the net after what amounted to no more than a light workout against Nishikori.

However, this was by far his biggest test of the week, and it did not take long for the problems of the last few months to come seeping back.

After the exhausting contest, Murray revealed that he did not know if he could be fresh for the final against Djokovic.

“Me and Novak are lucky to have two great champions in our boxes, but to have other great champions like Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg here today is special”.

Djokovic needs to win Sunday’s title to become year-end No. 1 for the third consecutive season and fifth time overall while Murray will secure the No. 1 spot with a victory.

“I had to fight very, very hard”.

However, Murray broke in the Serb’s fourth service game and went on to capture the first set.

The defeat concludes a second half to the season during which the 29-year-old has failed to win a tournament – a period which Murray has taken full advantage of.

In the aftermath of the Nadal-Federer rivalry, the Djokovic-Murray rivalry has picked up steam over the last five years or so.