The day has come! Novak Djokovic has been taken down from the throne of the ATP list after 122 weeks of ruling the men’s tennis world!
The new top ranked player on the ATP list is the British tennis superstar Andy Murray (29), who also became the oldest top ranked player since John Newcombe in 1974 (who was 30 years old when he became the No.1).
The Problems for Djokovic Started in August
Djokovic has been undeniably great and dominant in the first part of the 2016, but ever since he won the Roland Garros, becoming the owner of all 4 major titles at the same time, his form has started to go downhill.
It seemed like the end to Novak’s problems are not in sight, as he first suffered a defeat to Juan Martin Del Potro in the first round of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro at the begin of August.
Several weeks later, Novak was involved in a rumour in which he was accused of having an affair with the Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone. However, both Novak and Jelena Djokovic publicly denied those rumours stating that Deepika is one of their good friends. Before that rumour came out, it was clear that something was not right with Novak since he decided to skip the Masters in Cincinnati, claiming that he wants to focus on the last Grand Slam tournament of the year – the US Open.
But, by the time US Open started, Novak’s focus had been severely disrupted and only because 3 of his 6 opponents resigned due to injuries, which allowed Novak to reach the Finals where he was defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka, 3:1.
US Open Defeat and the Masters Tournaments
With the defeat in the Finals of the US Open, the rumours only became louder that something was not right and that Novak Djokovic might be forced to miss the remainder of the year due to physical and mental problems he has been dealing with. Some media has also reported that Novak was thinking to pull out of the remaining tournaments since the gap between him and Murray was closing and should he fail to win any tournaments until the end of the year that he might lose the Top ranking on the ATP list.
However, we all know that Novak did participate at the Shanghai Masters, where he saw an exit in the semi-finals after a defeat to Roberto Bautista (6:4, 6:4), and most recently at the Paris Masters which ended his 122 weeks long reign at the top of the ATP list. Namely, it was the Croatian, Marin Cilic, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the tournament with 6:4 and 7:6, opening the path for Andy Murray to reach the top ranking for the first time in his career.
All Andy Murray needed to do was to reach the final, which he did after Milos Raonic resigned from the semi-finals clash against Murray due to a right leg injury, which meant that Murray became the first British ever to Top the ATP list, since the rankings system had been introduced!
Aware of his top career ranking, Murray entered the final match relaxed and determined to prove his worth and his great form in the second half of the 2016. In the final match, Murray faced the American, John Isner, and after a hard-fought battle, the Brit came on top and defeated the American, 2:1 (6:3. 6:7, 6:4).
It was an absolutely deserved title for the British tennis star and considering the poor performance of his biggest rival Novak Djokovic in the second half of the 2016, we can conclude that Andy Murray has completely deserved to reach the top ATP rankings.
On the other side, Novak Djokovic will have a chance to redeem himself and still finish the year as the No.1 ranked player on the ATP, only if he manages to win the title at the last Masters tournament in London, while at the same time Murray should see an early exit, but at this time is unimaginable!
