Tennis: Andy Murray ousts Novak Djokovic as No 1 tennis player in the world

Andy Murray ousts Novak Djokovic as No. 1 tennis player in the world

By Marissa Payne Early

Andy Murray makes history for Great Britain with new ranking. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)
It took nearly 12 years and 800 matches for Andy Murray to reach the top of the world tennis rankings, but on Saturday, the 29-year-old Scot finally made it.

11.5 years as a professional
798 matches
42 career titles
1 sporting pinnacle reached@andy_murray is the new world No.1! 🌍 👏 pic.twitter.com/G9UKdVwt8y

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) November 5, 2016

The pieces had all lined up on Friday after Novak Djokovic, who had held the top spot for 122 weeks, lost to Croatia’s Marin Cilic at the Paris Masters. On Saturday, Murray was to meet Canada’s Milos Raonic in a semifinal that, if he won, would’ve propelled him to the top spot. But Murray didn’t even need to do that because Raonic ended up withdrawing due to injury.

Murray is the first British singles player to hold the top spot since the modern rankings system began in 1973, according to the BBC.

Andy #Murray is World No.1 #HistoryMaker pic.twitter.com/bi8LqjjdrY

— British Tennis (@BritishTennis) November 5, 2016

In the meantime, Murray will attempt to further cement his new reign on Sunday when he’ll play the United States’ John Isner for the Paris Masters title.

Whatever the outcome on Sunday, Murray’s mother is already proud.

You've come a long way baby 1️⃣❤️ pic.twitter.com/VEIVl6NsxA

— judy murray (@JudyMurray) November 5, 2016

Other tennis stars, too, congratulated the new No. 1 on social media.

Congratulations @andy_murray for reaching the pinnacle of our sport- #1!!! And that's not a hash tag- that is #1:). 👍

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) November 5, 2016

Congrats to @andy_murray on being the new world number 1! Much deserved accomplishment for him, and glad he got there. Long time coming !

— andyroddick (@andyroddick) November 5, 2016

Murray will be officially confirmed as the new No. 1 on Monday when the rankings are updated.