Indian Wells defeated finalist, Juan Martin del Potro, is wrong to suggest US Open champion, Andy Murray, can achieve world number one status this year.
The Argentine, who defeated Murray in the quarter-final stage before falling to Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells’ final last Sunday, pinpointed the grass season as Murray’s chance to leapfrog both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic into top spot on the ATP tour.
“Murray is a big champion; he’s already won a grand slam; he made the finals in Australia and he has everything he needs to be at the top in the future,” Del Potro said. “He will be fighting for the world number one place this year and he can take a big opportunity in the grass season.”
Indeed, Murray is at the top of his game but to suggest he can make world number one by the close of 2013 is a gross overestimation of his ability to see off fellow elite opponents.
For it is only over the past 10 months that Murray has proven a worthy challenger to Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal. His final berth at Wimbledon last summer shocked Betfair tennis pundits – especially after a disastrous run at Roland Garros – yet an Olympic gold and first Grand Slam in New York weeks later confirmed he had joined the bog boys.
Unfortunately, he is still not quite at the competitive and consistent level of Djokovic – the hard-court master – and grass king, Federer. Nadal, meanwhile, looks set to claim the French Open for an eighth time this summer after making a success of his comeback from injury, meaning if Murray is to win a Slam in 2013 he must defeat a master on their own surface.
Sadly, his chances of doing this are not great and even if Murray does justify the Betfair Wimbledon betting and earn the title at SW19 this season, he will not make top spot simply because Djokovic will win one of the other two Slams.
