Andy Murray is now the man to beat in tennis, says Tim Henman
Sunday 6 November 2016 12:50, UK
Former British No 1 Tim Henman believes Andy Murray can consolidate his position at the top of world tennis and is now the man to beat.
Murray's climb to world No 1 was confirmed on Saturday when semi-final opponent Milos Raonic was forced to withdraw from the Paris Masters tournament due to a leg injury.
Murray takes on John Isner in Sunday's final, live on Sky Sports 3 from 2pm, but Novak Djokovic's quarter-final exit at the hands of Marin Cilic has seen the Scot reach the summit and Henman feels he can stay there.
Henman told BBC 5 Live's Sportsweek programme: "For me, Andy's going to be the player to beat. Serving his apprenticeship and waiting for his moment, I do feel this is his moment.
"He's going to be number one on Monday and I really hope he can go on and finish the year well at the O2 (at the ATP World Tour Finals) to finish the year as No 1 and build on it for next year and beyond.
"But as we know in sport, especially tennis with the number of events there are in a calendar year, things can change very quickly.
"But if Andy stays fit and healthy I see him being the dominant force moving forward."
Murray's rise to the top has been built on his ability to bounce back from huge disappointments, according to proud mum and former coach Judy Murray.
Her son lost all of his first four Grand Slam finals and Judy is convinced that just made him stronger.
"He has incredible fighting spirit and resilience and over the many years, through the juniors and senior tour, you have to be able to enjoy the successes, and that is easy," she said.
"But recovering from the defeats that really hurt you, like the grand slam finals for example, these are really tough to overcome because you're right up at the top.
"That's when it's important to have a very strong network of people around you, who can help you and support you and encourage you, but from a very young age he's always been one of those guys who, if he suffers a defeat that hurts him, he comes back stronger.
"It just made him want to work harder."
Jamie Delgado, part of Murray's coaching staff, said the 29-year-old has never stopped improving.
"It's incredible what he's done," Delgado said. "He's always been an amazing talent. I remember hearing about him when I was still playing, this young kid from Scotland.
"I remember seeing him play for the first time and to watch his progress from juniors to seniors - it's just been constant improvement every single year and it's been incredible to watch really.
"He just so deserves it, really, really deserves it."
Former world No 1 and 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer was quick to acknowledge Murray's achievement.
"We have a new (king) in town," the Swiss said on his Twitter account. "Congrats Sir @andy_murray".
Check our game-by-game updates from Andy Murray v John Isner from the ATP Paris Masters final and then follow his progress at the ATP World Tour Finals from London skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
