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Andy Murray Wimbledon 2021
Tennis News

2016 in review: Murray tops the rankings


At the start of May, Andy Murray trailed world No.1 Novak Djokovic by more than 7,500 points in the ATP rankings. But a first title of the season in Rome, followed by a run to the Roland Garros final, and titles at Queen’s and Wimbledon saw the Scot close the gap.

Then, after a run of 19 matches without defeat in the autumn, during which time he won titles in Beijjing, Shanghai, Vienna and Paris, Murray caught Djokovic to end the Serb’s reign at the top of the rankings.

However, Djokovic had the chance to regain the top spot a fortnight later at the ATP World Tour Finals, as the pair met in the final in a winner-takes-all clash for the year-end No.1 ranking.

Murray had never won the event at The O2 and Djokovic was the four-time defending champion in London, but Murray defeated his rival for only the third time since the 2013 Wimbledon final to underline his status as the best player in the world with a clinical 6-3 6-4 victory to end the year on a 24-match winning streak.

“It’s very special playing against Novak in a match like this, we’ve played Grand Slam finals and Olympic finals before, but I am very happy to win and to be world No.1 is very special,” said Murray. “It is something I never expected.”


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.