Murray achieves career dream with year-end top finish

London, Nov. 21, (GNA/dpa) - Andy Murray completed a dream run to year-end world number one as he beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win the World Tour Finals over his main rival.

The Scot thrilled a crowd of 18,000 in London as he claimed the trophy for the first time. He came to the court after labouring for more than three and a half hours the night before to beat Milos Raonic in a semi-final.

It was Murray's fifth title in his last five tournaments and his first victory indoors over Djokovic, who had won the last four year-end editions.

"This is a very special day, playing Novak in a match like this," Murray said. "We've played grand slam finals, at the Olympics - it's been a tough rivalry.

"I've lost many of them but I'm very happy to win this one. Finishing the year number one is something I never expected. I couldn't have done it without my team and my family."

Murray made a dominating start against a somewhat sluggish opponent, from whom he had first lifted the number one ranking a fortnight ago in Paris. The Scot earned a break for 5-3 as Djokovic could not handle an inside-out forehand.

Murray claimed the set in 49 minutes, then began the second by breaking for 1-0 in an eight-minute struggle.

He went up a double break for 4-1 but was broken himself in the next game. Murray hung on to his lead to earn the win going away.

Djokovic admitted that he was outplayed on the night: "Andy definitely deserves to end as number one," the Serb said. "He played better tennis than me in the decisive moments I was not able to come back.

"I got better at the end - but by then it was too late. I congratulate Andy and his team for a tremendous year. I have a lot of highlights to look back on, especially from the first part of the season.

"We were both a part of history," he said after finishing the only season-ending match in ATP which determined the number one ranking.

Djokovic still leads the series 24-11 as he played Murray for the first time since the Roland Garros final on June 5.

Murray, now the 17th player since the rankings began in 1973 to finish number one, improved his win streak to 24 matches as he finished the season on 78 wins, nine defeats.

GNA