So what was the first thing Andy Murray did when he found out he had secured the world No1 ranking for the first time in his career?
He went for a practice session on centre court with his coach Jamie Delgado then played some doubles with three French ball kids in front of a packed stadium in Bercy, Paris.
Seven years and six months after he first rose to No2 in the world, Murray has finally reached the summit of the sport and his initial instinct was to hit some serves and ground-strokes to make up for the semi-final walkover he received courtesy of Milos Raonic’s injury withdrawal.
The second order of business was to give some ball kids a dream opportunity – playing tennis with the new world No1 – and rewarding the crowd that stayed behind in the stadium after the second Paris Masters semi-final of the day had been called off.
That’s Murray for you in a nutshell. He is a man of supreme work ethic, with an undiminishing will to put in the hard yards. An inspirational figure who has shown the younger generation that “hard work pays off” is not a cliche but a motto to live by.
At 29, Murray is the second-oldest first-time world No1. In an era that has produced three of the best players that have ever picked up a tennis racquet, the Scot did the only thing he could have done.
Andy Murray is the new world No.1! We look back at his amazing journey to the very top pic.twitter.com/9SEFoMVto2
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) November 5, 2016
He waited patiently, preparing himself in the best way possible, so that when the opportunity presented itself to rise to the top, he was ready to grab it. It is crazy to think that just last June, he was over 8,000 points behind Novak Djokovic in the rankings.
Tomorrow, he will be at least five points ahead (405 points if he wins today’s Paris Masters final). Since he lost the French Open final to Djokovic in the first week of June, Murray has lost just three out of 48 matches. That kind of dominance can hardly go unrewarded. The first half of the year was not too shabby either.
In fact, Murray’s rise can be traced back to last December when he helped guide Great Britain to the nation’s first Davis Cup title in 79 years. He then started 2016 by reaching the Australian Open final.
Murray welcomed his first child with his wife Kim in February and struggled in North America losing early in Indian Wells and Miami. But then things fell into place once again as he put together his best clay-court season to date, winning Rome, and making the finals in Madrid and Roland Garros.
At 29, @andy_murray is the 2nd oldest player to become World No1 for the 1st time. How long will he last? #Murray https://t.co/ZaSqI98ZgA pic.twitter.com/Ej8g2UI6jh
— Sport360° (@Sport360) November 6, 2016
He had parted ways with his French coach Amelie Mauresmo in early May and speculation pointed to his on-court angry behaviour as reasons behind their split. A month later, Murray rehired Ivan Lendl, the man who was by his side when he won his first two majors and the pair immediately picked up where they left off.
Three weeks later, Murray won Wimbledon to take his grand slam tally to three. It’s easy to credit Lendl for Murray’s surreal form the past five months but Delgado, who joined the Brit’s team in February as assistant coach, also deserves recognition.
Both have managed to restore Murray’s confidence and take it to new heights. Granted, Djokovic’s dip in form since June has helped Murray bridge the gap but no other player has managed to take advantage of that the way he has.
The fight for year-end No1 continues at the ATP Finals in London next week but for now, Murray should allow himself to celebrate a feat that has truly been a long time coming.
