Andy Murray Captures Paris and No. 1 Ranking - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Andy Murray beat John Isner 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, France

Petra Kvitova beat Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-2 to win the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai in Zhuhai, China

SAYING

“To get to this stage is about 12 months of tournaments … The last few months have been the best of my career and I’m very proud to get to this moment.” – Andy Murray, on becoming number one in the world on the ATP World Tour, surpassing Novak Djokovic.

“There was pride and satisfaction in the success I have had with my team, but in the other hand it was also very exhausting. At a certain point, I had to reach this kind of phase where I had to reflect and say, ‘OK, I have played on the highest possible level for that much.’ The drop of form is normal in sports. I’m not too concerned about how the future will go for me.” – Novak Djokovic, talking about his form after he won the French Open for the first time.

“On the scoreboard it looks pretty close, but he was the better player in the third set. He’s the guy that everyone is looking up to right now.” – John Isner, after losing to Andy Murray in the Paris Masters final.

“This morning I had trouble waking up and getting out of bed. I had some tests and an MRI half an hour ago and they found that I have a tear, Grade 1 tear in the right quad.” – Milos Raonic, who withdrew from his Paris semifinal against Andy Murray.

“The end of the season is just getting better and better.” – Marin Cilic, after upsetting Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters but before he lost to John Isner in the semifinals.

“We’ve just been really building all year, and I believed it was just a matter of time until we really got in sync and started to actually back it up match after match. We’ve been able to get some really good matches here and there throughout the year but it’s actually been a challenge for us to back it up every day. I think we’re starting to learn how to do that as a team and also as individuals, so it’s been really good to be able to do that.” – John Peers, who teamed with Henri Kontinen to win the doubles in Paris.

“Consistency is what we’re all striving for on the court; it’s difficult with different surfaces, different time zones and different climates. It’s a long year in tennis.” – Steffi Graf.

“At the end of the week we were the only two players left in the locker room. But we still had each other’s backs even then. Every Sunday one of us would be comforting the other one. There was always that caring, that compassion between us. It was very deeply rooted.” – Chris Evert, on her relationship with Martina Navratilova.

“Welcome to a very small club of members being the best in their profession.” – Boris Becker, former world number one who has coached Novak Djokovic, on Andy Murray becoming top-ranked on the men’s tour.

“Congrats @andy murray – Wimbledon champion, Olympic gold, and now number one! What a year! – Kensington Palace.

“You’ve come a long way, baby.” – Judy Murray, Andy’s mother and former coach of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team.

SMOKIN’

Being number one in the world wasn’t enough for Andy Murray. The Scot replaced Novak Djokovic atop the ATP World Tour rankings when Milos Raonic withdrew from their semifinal. Murray then won his fourth straight title, this time the Paris Masters. “Sometimes after you achieve something big or something that you maybe didn’t expect, it can be quite easy to have a letdown and feel a little bit flat,” Murray said. “But I was really up for the match and really wanted to try and win today. I didn’t feel like my work this week was done.” American John Isner put up a battle, but it wasn’t enough as Murray won his 19^th consecutive match, adding Paris to his titles in Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna. Isner never was able to break Murray’s serve, but the 6-foot-10 (2.08m) Isner took the second-set tiebreak 7-4. Isner lost his serve in the first and third sets. In eight meetings with Murray, the American has created 39 break-point opportunities and converted only one. It was Isner’s third Masters 1000 final and his third loss after also reaching the title match at Indian Wells in 2012 and Cincinnati in 2013. Murray responded to Isner’s big serving game by keeping the ball low and controlling play.

By winning the Paris Masters for the first time, Murray now has a 405-point lead over Djokovic. That’s significant because Murray will lost his Davis Cup points later this month. He will be able to finish the year in the top spot if he matches whatever Djokovic does at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

STANDING TALL

Andy Murray is the 26^th player to be ranked number one in the Emirates ATP Rankings and the first man from Great Britain to accomplish the feat. The 29-year-old Scot is the oldest first-time number one since 30-year-old John Newcombe took the top spot in June 1974. Murray first reached the number two ranking in August 2009 and has been ranked second in the world for a total of 76 weeks. And now that Murray has reached the top, every member of the Big Four – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray – has been number one in the world. Federer topped the rankings for 302 weeks, Djokovic 223 weeks and Nadal 141 weeks. Reaching number one in the rankings caps a remarkable year for Murray that saw him win his second Wimbledon and successfully defend his Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.

STRONG FINISH

A slow start didn’t stop Petra Kvitova from winning the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai in straight sets. “I knew that it’s still in my hands,” Kvitova said after beating Elina Svitolina. “I just felt that she played a little bit aggressively than me in the beginning of the match.” The Czech left-hander, a two-time Wimbledon champion, found her rhythm midway through the opening set and took complete control, winning five straight games after trailing 4-1. “I was a little bit trying to get the rhythm to play a little bit more aggressive, maybe a little bit longer rallies, that I can go to the game and be able to play,” said Kvitova, who lost just 18 games in her four matches. Kvitova has beaten Svitolina in all three of their meetings this season. It was the Czech’s 19^th career title and her second in China in two months, having won in Wuhan in October. “I still think that I find a way to kind of beat her,” Kvitova said. “I player her in Wuhan and I was break down there as well from the beginning of the match. I just probably knew that it’s still not the end, so I was just trying to play point by point. That was kind of the style of the match.”

SICK CALL

Milos Raonic pulled out of his Paris Masters semifinal against Andy Murray because of a “Grade 1 tear in the right quad.” Now there’s a question as to whether or not the Canadian will be able to compete in the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals next week. “I still have the possibility of making it,” Raonic said, “but I was told 5 to 10 days. So I’m on the borderline for that.”

SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE

Kei Nishikori didn’t come away from the Paris Masters with a title, but he did claim a significant mark in his career. Nishikori’s 6-2 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki in a second-round battle was the Japanese player’s 300^th tour-level win. “I think it’s a great number,” Nishikori said of the feat. “I think this year has been pretty good. I have been winning a lot of matches and playing a lot of tournaments. Every year I feel like I’m getting strong, so I’m happy with performance right now.” Ranked fifth in the world, Nishikori will be making his third appearance at the upcoming Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

SPECIAL SOCK

After winning his first-round match at the Paris Masters, Jack Sock was only wondering about a little boy who had been treated by paramedics during his match. In the second set, Sock hit a first serve that landed out and bounced into the first row, hitting the boy in the mouth. The boy started crying and play was stopped while paramedics rushed his side and gave the boy an ice pack. “Obviously I couldn’t see exactly what happened,” Sock said. “At first when I saw the serve go over and it hit him, I thought it could be his eye and he was wearing glasses, so could have been a disaster.” The American soon learned the boy, who was sitting with his father in the stands, had stayed though the entire match after getting a bloody nose when he was hit by the ball. Sock comforted the boy, gave him one of his wristbands and posed for photos with him. “It was better than I thought it was,” Sock said. “I’m glad he’s OK.”

SURGING

Finland’s Henri Kontinen and Australia’s John Peers are finding their games are a perfect match for each other. The unseeded pair won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title when they upset top-seeded Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the Paris Masters final. “It was amazing to actually get the first Masters (1000) title for both of us,” Peers said. “I know we’ve put in a lot of hard work together and it’s something to cap off a really good year just before we head to London.” The pair qualified for their first ATP World Tour Finals. “We’ve just been really building all year, and I believed it was just a matter of time until we really got in sync and started to actually back it up match after match,” Peers said. “I think we’re starting to learn how to do that as a team and also as individuals, so it’s been really good to be able to do that.”

STOPPED

Novak Djokovic’s reign atop the ATP World Tour rankings was ended by Marin Cilic, not Andy Murray. Of course, Murray was the one who replaced Djokovic in the number one spot, but it was Cilic who opened the door for Murray, beating the Serb 6-4 7-6 (2). It was the first time Cilic had beaten Djokovic in 15 career matchups. But it was Djokovic who made uncharacteristic mistakes from the baseline, struggled on serve and, when serving for the second set at 5-4, hit two double faults and was broken. “I wasn’t on the level that I could have been on,” said Djokovic said, who also called for the tournament doctor during the first set. “I was also in this kind of circumstances and with his level of play, in a good position to take the match into the third set, and then two double faults. Just in important moment I wasn’t able to deliver. He is a deserved winner.”

After winning the French Open in June for the first time, Djokovic has ran into a rough patch. He lost in the third round at Wimbledon and in the first round of the Rio Olympics. At the US Open, he reached the title match and won the opening set before losing to Stan Wawrinka.

SMASHIN’

John Isner may not have wound up his season by winning the Paris Masters, but he did finish 2016 with a title. The big-serving American slammed 18 aces in each of his final two matches to bring his total to 1,159 to claim the aces title for a fourth time and halt Ivo Karlovic’s two-year reign. Karlovic, who finished with 1,131 aces, was bidding to achieve the feat for a record-tying sixth time, the mark set by Goran Ivanisevic. The Croat had entered the Paris tournament with a 50-ace lead. Isner and Karlovic have dominated the aces category in the last 10 years. Isner won the title in 2010, 2012, 2013 and this year. Karlovic won in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015. The only player to out-ace the two was Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who captured the aces title in 2011.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Paris: Henri Kontinen and John Peers beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Zhuhai: Ipek Soylu and Xu Yifan beat Yang Zhaoxuan and You Xiaodi 6-4 3-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Bratislava: www.tennisslovakopen.sk/uvod.html

Mouilleron Le Captif: www.internationauxdevendee.com/

Tokyo: http://ando-open.tokyo

Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com

London: www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/en

Limoges: www.engieopendelimoges.fr/

Taipei: www.oectennis.com/bin/home.php

Shenzhen: www.missionhillschina.com