The battle for the year-end number one ranking won’t likely include world number three Andy Murray.
Murray lost his quarterfinal match of the US Open 2013 tournament, which means that he will lose significant ranking points once the data is updated by Monday. The British number one player entered the US Open as the defending champion.
The two players that will be battling for the number one ranking by the end of 2013 will be Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Murray had reached four straight Grand Slam finals before Thursday’s loss, the British No. 1 acknowledged the challenge of maintaining the level of consistency needed to be the best. “If I’m meant to win every Grand Slam I play or be in the final, it’s just very, very difficult just now,” Murray said. “With the guys around us, it’s very challenging. I have played my best tennis in the Slams the last two, three years.”
Murray has reached the final in the past four Grand Slams he participated starting with the Wimbledon tournament last year. He skipped the French Open tournament this year due to a back injury.
For failing to defend the US Open title, Murray will lose 1,640 ranking points. He will only get 360 ranking points for the quarterfinal finish as opposed to the 2,000 points he received for winning the title last year.
“When you work hard for something for a lot of years, it’s going to take a bit of time to really fire yourself up and get yourself training 110 per cent,” he said. “That’s something that I think is kind of natural after what happened at Wimbledon. But I got here. I have been here nearly three weeks now. I practised a lot, and played quite a lot of matches, as well. So I gave myself a chance to do well because I prepared properly,” he said.
