World No.1 Andy Murray has dismissed speculation that he is in line for a knighthood after winning the year-end ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday.
The Brit defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets to become the 17th player to sealed the year-end number one ranking since the introduction of the Emirates ATP Rankings in 1973. The achievement comes at the end of what has been a sensational end to the year for Murray. Since the US Open, the 29-year-old has been unbeaten on the ATP Tour, winning five consecutive titles.
Also winning the Wimbledon title and another Olympic gold medal earlier in the year, there has been increased talk about Murray being awarded a knighthood. It is a potential milestone that would see him become the first tennis player to receive the accolade since Norman Brooks in 1939. Nevertheless, Murray has cooled down the hype by saying that ‘he is too young’ to be called sir.
“Obviously it is the highest honour you can get in this country,” he recently told a group of British reporters. “I don’t know, I feel too young for something like that.
“I don’t think about that stuff much, really. When I win any award or am presented with anything, it is nice because it is recognition for what you have given your life to, up to now anyway.
“I am still young and there are still a lot of things that can go wrong, I could still mess up and make mistakes. Do stuff wrong. I am just trying to keep doing what I am doing, working hard, and achieving stuff.”
It isn’t just a knighthood that Murray has been tipped to get. He is also one of the front-runners to win the 2016 BBC ‘Sports Personality Of The Year Award’. The honour is the main award handed out in British sport and has been an annual feature since 1954. Murray has already won the title twice in 2013 and 2015.
This year the Wimbledon champion will be absent from the British awards ceremony, which will take place on December 18th, due to his father’s wedding. It was a similar scenario in 2013 when he missed the event to focus on his off-season training in Miami.
‘I would have [gone to the Sports Personality of the Year] if my Dad wasn’t getting married,’ Murray told the Independent. ‘I would have gone to Miami a bit earlier and then would have come back for it, but because I am not able to go to Miami until I am, I am only going to get in two weeks’ training. I can’t really afford to come back and lose a few days.’
In a year where Great Britain has achieved one of their greatest ever performances at the Olympic Games, Murray has admitted that he is far from certain to win the December prize. The 29-year-old said it is ‘tough to pick’ a winner.
Winning nine titles in 2016, Murray has ended his season with a personal best win-loss of 78-9.
