Murray with chance to prove he merits No.1

Murray finishes 2016 with the most titles, most points and Olympic gold, while Djokovic finishes with more majors and won three of the pair’s five matches, making the debate over who had the best season in men’s tennis a fair one.

London-Andy Murray swept into the semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stan Wawrinka as the world number one remained on course for a final showdown against Novak Djokovic. I never felt like I was playing a match for ranking before. The longer the match went on the louder the crowd got.

“I congratulate (Murray’s) team”, he said in the post-match presentation. I haven’t been home for the last few nights. I’ll just give my best of what I’ve got.

Earlier in the week, Murray took three hours and 20 minutes to overcome Kei Nishikori.

As for Murray, he started off the year with two Grand Slam finals appearances that he would concede to Djokovic, before reuniting with former coach Ivan Lendl at the commencement of the grass season and reclaiming the Wimbledon title, which he had last won in 2013.

Murray broke his Serbian opponent in the second game, much to the delight of an 18,000-strong crowd in London that included Bastian Schweinsteiger and his wife Ana Ivanovic, a former world number one herself. It wasn’t until he was 4-1 down in the second set that his level picked up and he earned a first break of serve.

Djokovic was never tested by Nishikori.

He said: “Today we were both part of history, it was an honour to be on the court”.

The crowd were gripped as two match points passed before Djokovic finally succumbed on the third to give up his title – and the mantle of best player in the world.

Born just a week apart, Djokovic called their relationship a “bromance” in a pre-match press conference.

He was to break again, though Djokovic got back into the match immediately after as he showed the resilience that has seen him top the rankings and win two Grand Slams of his own this year.

“I was really exhausted today and didn’t feel great when I got up this morning”, added Murray.

“In the decisive moments I wasn’t able to come back”.

“Andy deserved to win”.

“I fought hard. It would have been easy when I was behind to have gone away a little bit, but I didn’t. It’s a very special day and huge congratulations to Novak for everything he has achieved this year”.