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Andy Murray 'needs to improve' to fend off Novak Djokovic in 2017

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Andy Murray spoke to Marcus Buckland, Annabel Croft and Gred Rusedski after beating Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray said it was "amazing" to end the year as world No 1 but insisted he needs to keep improving if he is to stay top of the rankings in 2017.

The 29-year-old Briton confirmed his status as the best player on the planet by beating Novak Djokovic, the world No 2, 6-3 6-4 in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Sunday.

It was his 24th consecutive win and his fifth tournament victory in a row.

Murray wins ATP finals
Murray wins ATP finals

Andy Murray stays world No 1 after beating Novak Djokovic

Murray will now take a fortnight off to celebrate and recuperate, but he is wary of a Djokovic fightback and already has one eye on next season.

He told Sky Sports: "Today was an amazing day. I felt more like I was playing for No 1 today, rather than the tournament. I have never felt like I was playing a match for a ranking before. That's all anyone had been speaking to me about in the last few weeks - the media, friends - that was it.

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Highlights of Murray v Djokovic from the O2 Arena

"I said a few weeks ago I was most likely going to have to win every match I played between now and the end of the year, and it ended up that way.

"I would imagine Novak will be back, strong as ever, for next year, so I need to keep improving, work hard in the off-season and hopefully start the year strong. 

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"I will rest for two weeks, and then I fly to Miami two weeks tomorrow for two and a half weeks, before coming home for Christmas. Then I head off to Abu Dhabi and Doha - that is where I'm starting the year - so I need those couple of weeks off and I'm looking forward to it."

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Courtside reaction from Murray and Djokovic

Murray started Sunday's final just 24 hours after beating Milos Raonic in a tournament-record 3hr 38min.

He looked fresh throughout the match but admitted he feared his body would not hold up.

Murray added: "I was really tired today. I didn't feel great when I got up this morning and last night I felt very tired before I went to bed. I just wanted to go out and give everything I had today, and thankfully it was enough. It would have been hard if it had gone to three sets.

Andy Murray, ATP World Tour Finals
Image: Murray defeated Djokovic 6-3 6-4

"A bit of it is bluffing. I felt not good this morning. When they were asking me, 'How do you feel?' I was like, 'I feel really tired'. My fitness trainer said, 'You have put the work in, you can do this, you have to trust the work that you have done', and I wasn't really believing it. 

"Thankfully, the match started off with shorter points. It was only in the middle part of the set that we started having longer rallies, and if we had started off like that, it would have been hard for me. Thankfully, I had enough to get over the line."

We'll be back in 2017, but in the meantime you can follow us skysports.com/tennis, or our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.

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