The latest Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is targeting further success this year with his eyes set on dethroning Novak Djokovic as the world No. 1 at the US Open. (Bet on US Open!)
After defeating Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in the final on Sunday, Andy Murray has lifted his second Wimbledon title, three years after clinching it for the first time. Djokovic’s early exit from the competition at the hands of eventual runner-up Raonic likely helped the Scot’s ambitions at the tournament, as it meant that he would go up against a player that’s ranked No. 7 instead of facing the world’s No. 1.
Murray will now be aiming to build on his success at the green courts as he prepares to take on the US Open (August 29 – September 11) – a competition which Djokovic won in 2015. . BBC reports the new prize purse for this year’s tournament has increased $4 million to a staggering $46.3 million. The champion of the Open will take home a whopping $3.5 million, which is a record for the tournament.
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Asked if the No. 1 spot on the ATP Rankings was a personal target of his, Murray openly confessed, “It’s definitely a goal.” His Wimbledon success saw him awarded with 2,000 ATP points, which now sees him hold a total of 10,195 points on the list. Djokovic is still way ahead of him at this stage with an impressive 15,040 points to his name, and even if the Scot wins the UP Open it wouldn’t be enough to usurp the Serbian’s reign as the world’s No. 1, as it would grant him another 2,000 points – not sufficient for the top spot for the time being.
World No. 1 Djokovic is the defending champion of the US Open
(Image credit: Zee News Sports)
“Before when I won here (2013), I was genuinely motivated solely really by the slams,” said Murray. “I think my results for the rest of the tournaments showed that – whereas now I feel a lot more motivated throughout the whole year and at all of the events.”
“It’s something I spoke to my team about, something I catted to Ivan about. I would love to get to No. 1, for sure, and the way to do that is to show up every week and be focused on that event. Before, sometimes maybe a couple of weeks before the US Open, my mind was already in New York. I wasn’t thinking about that week, maybe in Cincinnati or something like that.”
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“I was distracted by the major event that was coming up because that was what really motivated me. Now I feel quite different about that throughout the year.”
“Novak is still clearly No. 1 in the world right now, he is not just going to go away because he has had one bad tournament. You can’t forget what he had done in the last 18 months or so – it has been incredible,” warned the 29-year-old Scot. “This has been a great tournament for me but, if I want to win a few slams over the next few years, I am going to have to get better. I know that he will come back strong from this because of the player he is.”
Online sportsbook Paddy Power gives Djokovic favourite status 1.83 (5/6) for the US Open, despite suffering an early exit at Wimbledon. Murray is second-favourite, however his chances of success are still unusually trailing far behind the Serbian with odds of 4.00 (3/1).
All the other stars are unlikely candidates to be crowned this year’s US Open champions: Federer 10.00 (9/1), Wawrinka 17.00 (16/1), Raonic 19.00 (18/1), Nadal 21.00 (20/1), Nishikori 26.00 (25/1) and Kyrgios 34.00 (33/1) among others.
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