Murray gunning for Fed

Murray: Pushing on

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New world number three Andy Murray is not resting on his laurels as he prepares to defend his Madrid Masters crown.

The 21-year-old reached the world number three spot on Monday - the first British player to do so - by over-taking Serb Novak Djokovic.

While his 8990 points total is still well behind the world's top two - Rafael Nadal on 15360 points and Roger Federer on 10170 - Murray is already setting himself the target of catching the Swiss ace.

But he knows he needs to continue his rich vein of form, starting in Madrid this week, where the action is being shown live on Sky Sports.

Reflecting on his new ranking, the Scot said: "I'd be prouder if my name was in the middle of them (Nadal and Federer).

Good run

"I've been on a very good run the last eight or nine months, I think the ranking reflects that.

"To get close to those two or to get in between Roger and Rafa is a tough thing to do. They have had the top two spots for the last five or six years. It's an incredible run that both of them have been on.

"I'd love to try to break that up but I need to try to focus on just winning matches."

He added: "It's one of those things that if you start focusing on the ranking or on what another player is doing you take your eye off the ball a little bit.

"I know how I've got a chance of overtaking Roger if I can play very well the next couple of months. The most important thing is to concentrate on playing well and not the ranking."

Preparation

Murray will face Italian Simon Bolelli in the second round in Madrid.

And despite problems with practice courts at the venue, he feels well prepared for the defence of his crown.

He said: "I just tried to get here as early as possible to get used to the altitude, obviously the courts here are brand new and a little bit different.

"It's been quite tough to get practice time because there has only been two practice courts. I think one or two of them actually broke yesterday.

"I just got here early, had some decent practice and hopefully everything will be OK for the first match."