London: Andy Murray has been tipped to become ‘Sir Andy’ after crowning a golden season on top of the world days after brother, Jamie topped the doubles standings, prompting their mother to hail the ‘kings of world tennis’.
Andy produced an imperious display to defeat long-time rival Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 and win the ATP Tour Finals at the O2 Arena here Sunday.
Andy’s victory capped an impressive 2016 that also saw the Scot win the Wimbledon and Olympic singles titles.
Having spent the majority of his career overshadowed by the incredible achievements of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the Brit can finally claim he is the best player on the planet.
Leading British bookmaker William Hill promptly installed Andy as a 2/1 chance to be given a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in Britain’s New Year honours list. Were he to be so honoured, Murray would join Olympic champions Sir Bradley Wiggins (cycling) and Sir Ben Ainslie (sailing) as sportsmen with a knighthood.
“Come on your majesty @andy_murray for a knighthood. World No.1,” tweeted businessman Alan Sugar, a former chairman of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur. “He deserves it more than anyone else,” former England cricketer Ian Botham was quoted as saying by the ‘Daily Mail’.
But while Wiggins is winding down his illustrious career, Andy made it clear he wanted to retain his No.1 ranking and add to his tally of three Grand Slam singles titles.
“I would like to try and stay there, obviously. It’s taken a huge effort the last five, six months to get there,” Andy told ‘BBC TV’. “I’m aware that’s going to be extremely difficult because I had a great year this year and I only managed to do it by one match. But now that I got there, I would be motivated to try and stay in that position.
“The majors are what gets me working hard and what really, really motivates me. When I go away in December to train, I’m training with the Australian Open in mind.
Meanwhile Judy, the brothers’ mother and herself a tennis coach, posted a picture of her two sons on Twitter, captioned: “Andy & Jamie Murray: Pride of Scotland, Kings of world tennis.”
There was praise too from Federer, widely regarded as one of tennis’s all-time greats. “Epic start to the year by @DjokerNole. Epic end to the year by @andy_murray, ending #1 Congrats guys.”
And the congratulations extended beyond the world of tennis, with JK Rowling, the author of the best-selling Harry Potter books, tweeting: “I’d almost forgotten what it’s like when the person you really, really want to win, wins! @andy_murray. Congrats.”
AFP
