Andy Murray aims to become world No.1

Andy Murray won his third Grand Slam title on Sunday. Picture: Getty

The champion has spent his life butting heads with three of the greatest players the sport has ever seen. His consistency at the grand slam events is impressive: 11 finals reached and three won.

But when it comes to dominating the world rankings, he has never made that a priority – Roger Federer was the undisputed top man when Murray began his professional career, Rafael Nadal was No 1 as Murray started reaching grand slam finals and now Novak Djokovic stands on top of the mountain.

Now, though, after his dismissal of Milos Raonic in Sunday’s Wimbledon final, the Scot is planning a push for the top.

“It’s definitely a goal,” he said. “I think before when I won here, I was sort of motivated genuinely solely really by the slams. And I think my results for the rest of the year showed that. Whereas now I feel a lot more motivated throughout the whole year and at all of the events.

“It’s something I spoke to my team about, something I chatted to Ivan [Lendl, his coach] about. I would love to get to No 1, for sure, and the way to do that is to show up every week and be focused on that event. Before, sometimes maybe a couple of weeks before the US Open my mind was already in New York. I was sort of distracted by the major event that was coming up whereas now I feel quite different about that throughout the year.”

In his drive for yet more ranking points, this weekend’s Davis Cup quarter-final on clay against Serbia may have to be sacrificed.

As Murray fulfilled all his media commitments at the All England Club yesterday morning, he was still undecided as to whether he would play but it sounded less and less likely. The best he may be able to do is to go along to support the team but not play.

His back is much stronger and more stable following the surgery he had in 2013 but adapting to clay courts is a slow and delicate business. Jumping straight from grass to the slow clay of Belgrade could be very risky even if he would dearly love to help the team. “I do think we could win the Davis Cup again this year,” he said. “That would be an amazing achievement for everyone. I am part of the team and I feel a responsibility there to the team and to Leon [Smith, the captain], my brother is part of the team as well which all adds to it. It’s difficult.

“But I also need to respect that that is a surface that I have had real trouble with my back on in the past and every time I come back on to clay I need to respect that.

“The surface is really the main obstacle.”