Andy Murray will now prepare for life as world number one after he completed his extraordinary week in Paris with a 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4 win over John Isner in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters.
In the eighth meeting between Andy Murray and John Isner, it was the Scot who started the brightest as he used his agressive returning to break in the sixth game to grab a 4-2 lead. The newly crowned world number one continued to move the big man about and after 35 minutes it paid off as he took the first set 6-3.
However Isner had been taking advantage of the slight speed increase of the court this year compared to other years, and continued that today as he used his big serve to frustrate Murray. The American had several break points during the second set but couldn’t convert as the Brit remained gritty. As a result the second set would be forced into a tiebreak. The tiebreak saw Isner elevate his game at the key moments and mini-broke Murray for a 4-2 lead. The American, who was reaching his first masters final outside of the US continued his momentum and took the tiebreak 7-3.
Both men played their best tennis in the final set, with both serving at their optimum level. However it was Murray who would serve better, winning 90% of his 1st service points. He would then use this momentum to break the Isner serve in the tenth game and grab the match in 2 hours and 17 minutes, to secure his eighth title of the season. You can see how he sealed the match below:
Both Players’ Reaction
John Isner started the trophy ceremony by thanking everyone who made the tournament possible, “Thank you to all the organisers and the tournament director for making this event possible. You fans were also incredible, your what makes the event so special. I would also like to thank my coach, he has made a big difference to my game this week. He also congratulated Murray on his achievements this week, “Congratulations to Andy for winning the title and becoming number one in the world, I see you every week in the locker room and I see how hard you work.”
Andy Murray then took to the microphone to speak about how well John did this week and how great the atmosphere was, “Congratulations to John, You played incredible this week and I hope you continue your good form into next season. I would also like to thank the atmosphere, it is amazing to play in from the warm up and there are not many tournaments that are like this. The tournament has made huge improvements and I enjoy coming here.” He also finished saying that he would ‘keep working as hard as possible to keep on improving’
Murray’s Future
Andy Murray’s future as world number one looks very bright, if he can match Novak Djokovic’s results in London then he will become the year end world number one. From then on I believe Murray has the game and all the tactical tools to sustain a legitimate reign at the top of the rankings. How long could that be for? That all depends on how competitive the rest of the field can remain because as proven in recent weeks he has not been able to face many top ten players en route to his title wins. Can Djokovic stay mentally fresh all year round? Can Nadal and Federer fight off injury to sustain a challenge for Murray’s throne? Can Thiem, Zverev and other rising stars develop fast enough to challenge him? These factors will challenge the Scot to the core, if he can answer these correctly then we could see Murray have a similar run to Djokovic at the top of the ATP World Tour rankings. Only time will tell….
2016 Masters 1000 Results.
Finally, the BNP Paribas Masters saw the climax of the Masters 1000 events for 2016, here is a summary of how the finals of these tournaments went:
Indian Wells – Novak Djokovic beats Milos Raonic 6-2 6-0- Miami – Novak Djokovic beats Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3
- Monte Carlo – Rafael Nadal beats Gael Monfils 7-5 5-7 6-0
- Madrid – Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray 6-2 3-6 6-3
- Rome – Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-3
- Toronto – Novak Djokovic beats Kei Nishikori 6-3 7-5
- Cincinnati – Marin Cilic beats Andy Murray 6-4 7-5
- Shanghai – Andy Murray beats Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(1) 6-1
- Paris – Andy Murray beats John Isner 6-3 6-7(3) 6-4
