Ever since the ATP rankings system was established in the 70's, no British man has achieved a ranking of higher than 3rd. Indeed, until this year, no Brit had achieved even that.
As of Monday, however, Andy Murray will be the World Number 2. It will be the first time since 2005 that the top two slots have not been held by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and marks yet another milestone in the Brit's progression to the the top of his game.
After a successful hard court season at the beginning of the year, and a career best showing on clay, Murray won at Queens and reached the Semi Finals at Wimbledon. Since then he has had a break and a training block at his base in Miami before coming back to the tour for the Rogers' Cup tournament.
This achievement is, however, not without caveats. While he can only control his own game, which has seen him win 4 ranking tournaments so far this year, it follows a period in which Nadal missed a number of tournaments (including Wimbledon) through injury. That said, Murray also missed a couple of tournaments through his own injury worries a bit earlier on in the year.
It should also be noted that Murray has a lot of points to defend in the next few weeks - the Semi Final points from last years Rogers cup (now successfully improved on), Winner's points from Cincinnati and Runner-up points from the US Open.
So, although we should celebrate his success, the true test of his continuing form could be whether he is still in second place in a months time. A win against Del Potro tonight would be a great start in defending the position he's just gained. I'll be keeping everything crossed.
Andrew
P.S. I couldn't let this entry go by without a mention for Jessica Ennis who, at the time of writing, looks to be on course for a World Athletics Championship Gold in the Heptathlon.
As of Monday, however, Andy Murray will be the World Number 2. It will be the first time since 2005 that the top two slots have not been held by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and marks yet another milestone in the Brit's progression to the the top of his game.
After a successful hard court season at the beginning of the year, and a career best showing on clay, Murray won at Queens and reached the Semi Finals at Wimbledon. Since then he has had a break and a training block at his base in Miami before coming back to the tour for the Rogers' Cup tournament.
This achievement is, however, not without caveats. While he can only control his own game, which has seen him win 4 ranking tournaments so far this year, it follows a period in which Nadal missed a number of tournaments (including Wimbledon) through injury. That said, Murray also missed a couple of tournaments through his own injury worries a bit earlier on in the year.
It should also be noted that Murray has a lot of points to defend in the next few weeks - the Semi Final points from last years Rogers cup (now successfully improved on), Winner's points from Cincinnati and Runner-up points from the US Open.
So, although we should celebrate his success, the true test of his continuing form could be whether he is still in second place in a months time. A win against Del Potro tonight would be a great start in defending the position he's just gained. I'll be keeping everything crossed.
Andrew
P.S. I couldn't let this entry go by without a mention for Jessica Ennis who, at the time of writing, looks to be on course for a World Athletics Championship Gold in the Heptathlon.
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