Andy Murray: I Believe I Can Get To No. 1, So I’ll Give It My Best Shot

by Tom Gainey | October 17th, 2016, 10:11 am
  • 44 Comments

After his 2-week China sweep of Beijing and Shanghai, Andy Murray stands just 915 ranking points from Novak Djokovic and the rankings race lead for No. 1.

Murray, who’s never been No. 1, will play Vienna next week and then the Paris Masters before the ATP Finals next month. Meanwhile, Djokovic is expected to only play in Paris.

Should Murray win Vienna and then outplay defending champion Djokovic in Paris, the Scot could take the Race lead and grab the overall 52-week No. 1 ranking heading into the Finals.


“I still have to win three, four tournaments,” Murray said Sunday in Shanghai. “That’s not an easy thing to do. I have never had success like I have had the last few months in my career, so, you know, to keep that going, I’m aware it’s going to be a difficult thing to do. I need to keep myself motivated and be smart with my schedule and my time off, as well.

“But I believe I can get there. I definitely believe I can get there. You know, these last few months have proved that to me.

“And, yeah, I’ll give it my best shot to do it, because I may never get another chance. I may never get another chance to be No. 1, so I’ll give it my best shot to do that while I have the opportunity.”

Last year Murray made the finals in Paris losing the Djokovic. And he’s never made it beyond the semifinals at the ATP Finals in London.

“What matters is what my priorities are,” Murray said. “And right now I just want to finish these next few tournaments this year as best as I can. I have never played particularly well at the O2 in London. You know, normally in Paris I hadn’t played that well until last year, but I do like indoor conditions usually.”

ATP Race Rankings
1 Novak Djokovic 10,600
2 Andy Murray 9,685

ATP 52-Week Rankings
1 Novak Djokovic 12,900
2 Andy Murray 10,485



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44 Comments for Andy Murray: I Believe I Can Get To No. 1, So I’ll Give It My Best Shot

jalep Says:

Voted yes on Andy. It’s what I guessed a week or two ago when I looked at his playing schedule. Vienna – Paris – WTF. No Davis Cup? right? or did I miss it. His focus and energy is in one direction. I’m picking him in Vienna for 500 – we’ll see about Paris and WTF. Never have I loved Andy’s game and approach more than now.

Novak seems temporarily scattered, still sorting out emotions and exactly what he wants. Maybe he needs more time to ‘observe’ himself, play with ideas and dreams, and then see clearly.

Andy’s ready. There’s no hesitation in him. That’s my take.

October 17th, 2016 at 4:37 pm


Willow Says:

Jalep does this mean you have changed racehorses then ? ….

October 17th, 2016 at 4:38 pm


Willow Says:

Mind you, you never were obsessed about only one player anyway, which is refreshing to here these days, especially as some fans use these type of forums like they are fan clubs ….

October 17th, 2016 at 4:56 pm


jalep Says:

Hm, put me on the spot, do you ;) You are right, I’ve learned not to try to be in a fan club. It was definitely a turning point when Novak won the FO. Very similar to how it went with Federer for me. And I might be more of a Rafa fan now than ever, or am I?

No not really obsessed over one player like hardcore Rafa, Federer, and Novak fans. It goes in streaks but no less passionate. I’m home sick today and definitely all over the map – obsessed with Margot’s, manwerty’s and my bracket earlier. hahaha Bracket obsessed is it.

Really feeling the loss of a comment section on that bracket site. Margot’s picks and mine are usually similar but there’s one bracket that made me laugh so hard! And there was a bracket like that last week – disturbingly different. She had it right. That why this bracket addiction doesn’t take the place of RZ’s GS one on tourneytopia or my tourneytopia GS one. If you’re still awake reading.

Come to think of it, I’m supporting Andy’s run for #1. At AO, we’ll see. Truly Novak has accomplished everything I ever hoped for him. Actually was crushed when he lost in Rio. But I was happy for Delpo in that match.

AO 2010 I cheered for Andy. AO 2017 – Most likely will cheer Andy again because I want it for him like I wanted FO for Nole and Federer. Hm, which takes us to FO, yes, I’m supporting Andy there too.

Thanks for asking and forcing me to face the facts :)

October 17th, 2016 at 5:20 pm


Danica Says:

Jalep,
…then, Stan at Wimby? ;)
Please, support Nole for Cincy :))

October 17th, 2016 at 7:12 pm


AndyMira Says:

I can’t wait to see how Andy’s gonna fare in Paris and London this time..Sure,he’s never do well in both places but that’s before he’s got the BEST YEAR in his life like this year..This is certainly will give him an extra motivation to do well there..And his level atm has reach a stage that i’ve never seen from him before,almost perfect in every department,although he needs to tighten on his emotion a little bit more..In Shanghai,he seems distracted by the simplest of things,and if he’s not careful,GONG GATE will happen once again and certainly will disrupted his perfect momentum..

I actually don’t care much who’s got the title of the Nr 1 this year,both of them are awesome with their own achievement so far,and if Andy can’t achieve it this year,i hope he can materialize it next year..he’s got plenty of time..Also hope,his incredible form will not suffer much in the off season..Best of luck to both of them for the rest of the year..

October 17th, 2016 at 9:50 pm


Margot Says:

@jalep
Both caught a cold over Johnson and Baggy, I see. Meanwhile Luxenburg is off my holiday destination list. Welcome aboard the roller coaster BTW.
Just ignore that Danica! ;)

October 18th, 2016 at 2:50 am


Willow Says:

Jalep when it comes to Rafa, hes done almost everything i wanted him to do in terms of tennis, career GS, multiple GS on all surfaces, a singles and doubles Olympic gold, the only thing i would like him to do would be to win the WTF, but i doubt it will happen though, but other than that im pretty cool with it all ….

October 18th, 2016 at 3:27 am


Danica Says:

Well since jelena not alow novak to go to other women anymore and number 1 lost his mojo…having in mind novak great flexibility and joga practising…he should start pleasure himself by giving self blow job….could work he can bend easy enough to reach for his small johnson….that should help to get his confidence back and it aint cheating neither….so everyone wins..

October 18th, 2016 at 5:09 am


AndyMira Says:

Oh My God..DANI..THE REAL DANI{THE SAINT}..Once again your beautiful name has been used so carelessly @ 5:09 AM..When you wake up,please come here as soon as possible..

October 18th, 2016 at 7:01 am


Willow Says:

AndyMira if i were you i would just ignore such posts ….

October 18th, 2016 at 8:29 am


AndyMira Says:

I know Willow…I could do that,it’s not my business after all..But,the thing is..not everyone can detect the differences between the real DANICA and the FAKE DANICA..He used my moniker once and post a dirty comment similar to this one..and it’s really embarrassing Willow especially there’s a nice poster’s here who didn’t know that it was not me who posted it..And i will keep doing this not only to DANI but to other poster’s as well if the same thing happen to them in the future..

October 18th, 2016 at 8:54 am


Margot Says:

But how on earth is this happening with Danica and why? Every regular on here knows this Nole hating imposter is not our Danica!
WAKE UP TENNISX STAFF!

October 18th, 2016 at 9:44 am


jane Says:

classy tennis-x… maybe get on the moderation train yeah?
(hi margot :))

October 18th, 2016 at 9:46 am


J-Kath Says:

Margot

It is also happening on Grandstand – an imposter takes the name of the original poster and posts erroneous info. – perhaps same person who has focused on Danica on T-x. Goodness knows how they do it….

October 18th, 2016 at 12:11 pm


jalep Says:

Actually, I will support Novak at Cincy. It would be a nice record to hold.

The first Danica post on this thread is short and could possibly be Danica.

But the other post:October 18th, 2016 at 5:09 am

Needs reporting to Randall and Staff. That’s bad. Singing in with the same name as a regular paster? Pure mayhem. Don’t they verify email first? Require it to be legit?

October 18th, 2016 at 1:26 pm


jalep Says:

Meant signing in not singing in ^

October 18th, 2016 at 1:28 pm


RZ Says:

It’s happened to me on another site (not tennis related) before too, though it could have been someone who has the same initials in my case. But when it happened, the imposter RZ was so rude to the moderator that I had to chime in and make sure people knew it wasn’t me. I guess the moderators can look at our email addresses to determine who’s who, if they really wanted to.

October 18th, 2016 at 4:42 pm


Willow Says:

Well i think some people only seem to care when its their favorite player been insulted, or a poster they get get on well with, otherwise strangely quiet, hmm go figure ….

October 19th, 2016 at 5:42 am


AndyMira Says:

@M..I believe Andy will start coming up fast in every lane in the near future..Btw..Thank you very much M for pointing it out so obviously that Rafa is not ‘very fast’ in his 51st place!Sooo comforting..

October 20th, 2016 at 8:25 am


Danica Says:

Good morning,
The first post on this thread was mine. The second, of course , was not. Judging by how he spelled “joga” (yoga), he is from ex-YU. WB once said this was someone who used to post as “Komsija” (meaning “neighbor”). So there STAFF, the ball is in your court. You can easily moderate by comparing the email addresses. The same nicks should not be allowed.

I’d like to think that my English is at least a tiny bit better than that of a fake me :)

October 20th, 2016 at 11:28 am


Danica Says:

My comment is waiting moderation. Thank you and I mean it. Hopefully, it’ll be done when “Danica” strikes again.

October 20th, 2016 at 11:30 am


skeezer Says:

Margot,
Thanks for that link. Is it surprising that Novak is not in the Nominee list? Guess the players know something we all don’t.

October 20th, 2016 at 12:04 pm


Van Persie Says:

I am curious , who choses the nominees. It happened also to Rafa in 2008, he was out of the list.

October 20th, 2016 at 12:16 pm


Van Persie Says:

ah, ok, some writers are nominating. Then, it is not relevant, at least for me

October 20th, 2016 at 12:46 pm


Van Persie Says:

But thanks for the Info, Skeezer.

October 20th, 2016 at 12:47 pm


skeezer Says:

http://itwa.org/board/

You think these qualified person(s) are not relevant? Ok.
I am sure if the majority of the players had a problem with the nominees they would mention it.

October 20th, 2016 at 1:07 pm


Van Persie Says:

yep, Skeezer, never heard of many of them before. If the players would have to mominate, I am sure we would have another names there. They have chosen 2 GOAT’sand 2 slam winners this year. Tennis players do not have the possibility to give a feedback, to make a real choice, so, no, not relevant for me.

October 20th, 2016 at 1:12 pm


Van Persie Says:

Can only compare the board members from ITWA to the EU parlament. Sorry for bringing politics into this

October 20th, 2016 at 1:25 pm


skeezer Says:

“Tennis players do not have the possibility to give a feedback”
You have a link for that statement?
The conspiracy thingy rises again, ugh.
In regards to the link I posted, that is the Board, who imo is very qualified, more than anyone here. It is obvious by your political statement where your opinions lie. The same organization nominated Paradorn Srichaphan, who the players then voted to win the award back in 2002.
I am sorry that your Novak has not won the award….yet. You should write to the players on the ATP tour to get your verification of why. I am sure they would tell you the truth in the matter.

October 20th, 2016 at 1:33 pm


Van Persie Says:

ITWA nominates, Tennis players vote. Did I miss something? The board has 3 or 4 Brits, 1 Swisse, 1 American, and some other nationalities. Yep, not relevant, for me at least

October 20th, 2016 at 1:37 pm


Van Persie Says:

Perhaps many of them like DelPo more then Wawa or others. Did not expected Djoko to be necessarily a chosen one, but perhaps others.

October 20th, 2016 at 1:38 pm


Giles Says:

SEAN. Are you up to date with things out there?
Rafa has called it a day for 2016!!!

October 20th, 2016 at 1:40 pm


Van Persie Says:

P.S. It is a group of 3 or 4 tennis players, who vote.
Am out now. Enjoy the nomination, Skeezer. At least that for Fed after a heavy 2016. ;)

October 20th, 2016 at 1:57 pm


Margot Says:

? skeeze, that link was from ATP website, stats showing how well Andy’s doing on grass.

October 20th, 2016 at 2:01 pm


skeezer Says:

@Margot,
Wow apologies, I hit the link and go to the ATP Awards, then went on a lively / entertaining banter with VP.
I re clicked the link now, and see the Performances on grass. Ugh!
My clicker seems to be clanking ;(

October 20th, 2016 at 2:14 pm


skeezer Says:

Andy will pass Johnny Mac soon on grass, who woulda thunk it? Awesome!

October 20th, 2016 at 2:16 pm


Margot Says:

Lol skeeze, I’ve got an anointment that would help with “clicker clanking!” ;)
It is indeed wonderful for Andy fans to see him closing in on the great Johnny Mac on grass. But if Andy stays healthy for the next couple of years I reckon he could pass your Fed too! Eek, as I would say.

October 21st, 2016 at 7:15 am


Willow Says:

Lovely to see /here Andy getting some credit for his achievements for a change, and about time too ….

October 21st, 2016 at 7:47 am

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