The Rise and Rise of Andy Murray

The Rise and Rise of Andy Murray.

- Liam Dias

When Andy Murray held the spidery tree sculpture — the trophy at the Paris Masters — early November, you could see the sparkle in his eyes.

On the eve of his official elevation to the top spot, Murray was irresistible in the Paris final against John Isner, who put up a great fight but still fell short, losing 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.

Normally, when you win a trophy, you look at the metal, adore it, worship it. It is everything you have fought for. But Murray wasn’t really worshipping the trophy. He was worshipping his tennis career.

Murray may have reached the pinnacle of his career in a rather anti-climactic way, but he’ll take that over being the second best any day. He became World No. 1 without a ball being struck, via a walkover against his intended semi-final opponent Milos Raonic.

It is said to become king is one thing, but to continue ruling is perhaps a more difficult task. To end the year as World No. 1, Murray had to match Novak Djokovic at the season-ender ATP World Tour finals late November.

And what did he do? He completely outplayed the Serbian 6-3, 6-4 win in an hour and 43 minutes at the O2 Arena in London. Suddenly, the Briton, who was synonymous with being fourth in the world, was the undisputed number one.