Nervy Andy Murray on brink of history after Tomas Berdych win
BySportsbeat
Updated 05/11/2016 at 09:27 GMT
Andy Murray admitted to feeling extra nerves as he took a step closer to reaching the top of the World Rankings with a straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych in the Paris Masters quarter-finals.
Andy Murray - Masters 1000 Paris 2016
Image credit: AFP
The Scot went into the game having seen Novak Djokovic dumped out of the tournament by Marin Cilic, and knowing that just by making the final in Paris he would guarantee himself top spot when the new rankings are published on Monday.
And the tension appeared to be getting to the 31-year-old when he trailed 6-1 in the opening set tie-break, but he hit back to save five set points, before going on to take the breaker 11-9.
And it was business as usual in the second set as Murray prevailed 7-5 to book a semi-final spot against Canada's Milos Raonic, on Saturday.
"Maybe there are a few more nerves today knowing that the world number one was possible but once you are out there on court it didn't bother me," the two-time Wimbledon champion told Sky Sports.
"I have never been in that position of playing for the world number one spot before so I don't know how I will deal with it on Saturday.
"It can be tough for the 45 minutes or so before the match, but it was not my goal to get to world number one this year. I am just pleased with how I am playing over the latter half of this season."
Reflecting on the Berdych match, the Scot was pleased to have held his nerve after a serving error at what could have been a pivotal point in the match.
"The double fault in the tie-break is one of those things that can happen but it did not affect me for the rest of the match and that is positive," he added.
"I played some good points in the tie-break and he played some bad ones, I just fought as hard as I could and served well in those moments. I had a few net cords on big points and that helped."
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