How Andy Murray can make it to world No.1

Andy Murray has his sights set on the world No.1 ranking after a stellar 2016.

The 29-year-old has won Wimbledon and an Olympic gold medal, both for the second time.

Novak Djokovic has topped the rankings since July 2014 but a dip in form, coupled with Murray’s superb results, has put the Serbian’s reign in jeopardy.

Murray’s win at the Shanghai Masters earlier this month means the Scot could reach the summit as early as November 7 if he wins his next two events in Vienna and Paris, provided Djokovic does not reach the final in France.

The Scot begins his campaign in Vienna against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan on Wednesday.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a closer look at how Murray can usurp Djokovic.

Win in Vienna (Oct 24-30)

Murray cut the gap on Djokovic to 2,415 ranking points – a deficit that was almost 9,000 in April and 4,555 as recently as mid-September – with victory in Shanghai. The Scot won the Vienna tournament in 2014 but, because he did not play last year, he is not defending any points. Therefore, if he wins the indoor event in Austria he would add 500 points to his tally. Djokovic is not playing this week, as was the case last year, so his points tally would remain the same.

How it would stand if Murray wins in Vienna:

Djokovic: 12,900

Murray: 10,985

Win in Paris and hope Djokovic does not reach the final (Oct 30-Nov 6)

The regular tour comes to an end with the final Masters event in Paris next week, where Djokovic is the reigning champion. That means he is defending 1,000 points after he beat Murray in last year’s final, a run that earned the Scot 600 points. So, if Murray were to enjoy another impressive week in the French capital and lift the trophy, he could gain an additional extra 400 points. Should Djokovic only reach the semi-finals, he would drop 640 points.

How it would stand if Murray wins in Paris and Djokovic reaches the semi-final:

Djokovic: 12,260

Murray: 11,385

The vagaries of the rankings system

Even after winning in Paris and Djokovic not reaching the final, Murray would still be behind the Serb in terms of points ahead of the ATP World Tour Finals in London (Nov 13-20). However, an anomaly in the rankings system would see Murray take Djokovic’s crown as world No.1 on November 7, as all points won at last year’s World Tour Finals come off before this year’s event. As Djokovic was the champion, beating Roger Federer in the final at the O2 Arena, it means he drops a whopping 1,300 points. Murray, who has consistently struggled at the tournament, won only won match so drops just 200 points.

How it would stand after last season’s World Tour Finals points were taken off:

Murray: 11,185

Djokovic: 10,960

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