Murray not bothered about being British No1
Andy Murray will be confirmed as the new British number one on Monday – but frankly could not care less.
Following his maiden ATP Tour title in San Jose last week – where he beat two former world number ones in Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt – Murray reached the quarter-finals of the RMK Championships in Memphis.
The 18-year-old’s bid for back-to-back victories ended with a 6-1 6-4 defeat to Sweden’s Robin Soderling but, coupled with Tim Henman’s second-round loss in Rotterdam, was enough to lift him above Henman and Greg Rusedski.
However, Murray is more concerned with his position in the world rankings and looks well on his way to achieving his target of a place inside the top 20 by the end of the season.
“It’s not really that big a deal to be honest,” Murray said.
“Obviously you would rather be British number one than British number 20, but I’d much rather have a higher world ranking than British because you don’t play any tournaments that are just British players.
“You are competing against the whole world and I think that’s where you get your credit from the players from.
“If you are number one in your country it’s nice but it doesn’t mean anything to the other players, whereas if you are in the top 10 in the world that’s pretty special.”
Murray’s views are echoed by those of Henman, who has often remarked how other top players are amused by the media interest in the topic.
But it looks like soon becoming a dead issue if Murray continues his stunning rise through the rankings while Henman and Rusedski continue their inexorable decline.
The Dunblane teenager is also on target to be seeded for the French Open and Wimbledon this year, and got a taste of what it takes to win a Grand Slam over the last two weeks.
“Physically I didn’t feel too bad,” he said following his loss to Soderling. “My match on Thursday was over three hours and I had a three-set match on Wednesday as well, and against [Lleyton] Hewitt in San Jose on Sunday.
“I fought until the end of my match, just mentally it wasn’t quite there.
“It’s difficult to keep that up for two weeks at a time, that’s why it’s so tough to win a Grand Slam.
“At least there you have days off in between but here I had to play right through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday which was difficult.”
