Andy Murray: The No. 1 Ranking Is A Goal, It’s A Motivation For Me And Something I’d Like To Do

Ahead of his first match in Beijing tonight, top seeded Andy Murray met the press in China and opened up about the possibility of taking the No. 1 ranking away from Novak Djokovic.

“I think obviously trying to reach No. 1 is a goal obviously,” Murray said Monday. “I think most of the players that are near the top of the game would like that. I’ve never been there. It’s something I would like to do for the first time, which is maybe more of a motivation for me than some of the guys that have been there before.

“But, yeah, I want to just try and finish this year strong from a personal point of view. It’s been my best season to date, and I want to try to finish it as best as I can.”

Murray, though, has played a lot of tennis with little true rest. And he just played Davis Cup last month after the US Open.

“I haven’t been able to practice as much as usual coming into an event like this. But I feel healthy. My leg feels good,” Murray said. “I only arrived here today. I’ll try and get some good practice in the next couple of days and hopefully have a good tournament.

“I’m not putting too much pressure on myself right now. I need to get a few good days of training in here, try and get used to the conditions. If I can get through my first match or so, I’ll start to feel better, then reevaluate my chances of going far in the event.”

Murray is 55-9 on the season with 4 titles including a second Wimbledon crown and second gold medal at the Olympics.

Murray begins his quest for a first Beijing title against Andreas Seppi of Italy.