Tiêu đề: e, especially at the [In trang] Thành viên: yyys123 Thời gian: 4/6/2019 07:48:49 Tiêu đề: e, especially at the
Andy Murray has earned his place at the top of the world rankings after hard work and big decisions, says Annabel Croft. Rashaan Melvin Jersey . Murray became the worlds No 1 without having to play a shot following the withdrawal of Milos Raonic in the Paris Masters semi-final on Saturday afternoon.The 29-year-old is the first British singles player to hold top spot since computerised rankings began in 1973 and will play John Isner in Sundays final, live on Sky Sports 3, after the American beat Marin Cilic. It was a feat roundly praised by the Sky Sports commentary team. Peter Fleming called it an amazing turnaround from the Briton, while Croft said: Its a culmination of a fantastic season with sheer hard work and the commitment to bring out a high level of tennis every week.He made that change in his head last summer. He had back surgery [three years ago] which was a massive decision and people were asking have we seen the best of Andy? Andy Murray trained in front of the Paris crowd after they missed out on watching his semi-final He slipped down the rankings and my goodness has he come back with a vengeance. He may well go on to dominate through 2017.Its not probably the way he wanted to do it but it shows its a lot more about the year. Andy said the other day getting to be world No 1 was not about just one match.Its the level of consistency hes put out there for the year. Many congratulations to him. Its a shame we wont see that match but what a fabulous achievement and what a fabulous day for him.Novak Djokovic, who lost to Cilic in the French capital in Fridays quarter-final, had been No 1 for 122 weeks and completed his career Grand Slam when he conquered Murray in the French Open final in June. Live ATP Masters Tennis November 6, 2016, 2:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Murray has had a stunning run, making 11 finals in his last 12 tournaments, winning 73 matches in the year. He also becomes the first player other than Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to lead the rankings since Andy Roddick in 2004.Fleming added: Since the summer hes been virtually unbeatable and he fully deserves this ranking. Its no good though if he just stops.There have been 20 players who have been no 1 and several have only been there for a couple of weeks. The challenge is to be the year-end No 1. To do that he probably needs to win in London at the World Finals. Novak Djokovic says Andy Murray deserves to become the world No 1 But he needs a different mindset now. Hes probably still in hunter-mode through to the O2 finals because he still needs to win that or do better than Novak to become No 1 at the end of the year which is a bigger deal.Its knowing you have to maintain that incredible level every week - but hes been doing that over the last seven months.Watch the Paris Masters final Murray v Isner, live on Sky Sports 3 on Sunday from 2pm Also See: Murrays magnificent year Tennis on Sky Murray becomes world No 1 Murrays finest achievement Gabe Jackson Jersey . - The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent centre Brian de la Puente. Dwayne Harris Jersey . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- They slowed it down to a crawl in the beginning, then went as fast as they could at the end. An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. 2 Kansas 67-63 on Saturday night in the third-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. "Let me just say that we got beat by a fine team tonight," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "And theyre going to do a lot of things, I think, in the NCAA tournament this year." McKenzie Moore scored 15 for UTEP (4-4), including three free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to get the Miners within three. Justin Crosgile scored 14 points and Vince Hunter added 10 the Miners, who held Kansas to 39 per cent shooting. "I was real pleased with the effort," Floyd said. Perry Ellis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 14 and Joel Embiid came off the bench to add nine points, seven blocked shots -- all in the second half-- and six rebounds for the Jayhawks (6-1), who will likely drop from the No. 2 spot in the national rankings this coming week. Still, the Jayhawks will likely be on everybodys list of must-watch teams come March, and that gives Floyd plenty of hope for the Miners season. "We have a long ways to go to become a good basketball team," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And thats not all bad, either. We rarely have great teams in November. But were not as good as we were 17, 18 days ago. So thats a little frustrating that weve gone backwards. We didnt play well at all over here." Naadir Tharpe added 11 for the Jayhawks, who never trailed. The Jayhawks won despite Andrew Wiggins being held to six points, nearly 10 below the freshmans season average. It was the second straight night where Kansas saw a big early lead, 11-2 against Villanova and 15-2 against UTEP, evaporate and the game turn into a struggle. The finish saw UTEP scoring 13 points in just over a minute and carving away most of a late 14-point Jayhawk lead, but Kansas had enough. Barely, but enough. And if UTEP had been better from the line, it miight have been a different story -- the Miners missed 10 of 24 tries from the stripe. Brandon LaFell Jersey. Kansas led by 15 in the second half, and after a series of UTEP rallies, the Jayhawks were still up by 14 following Ellis jumper from the right wing with 2:21 left. It was 59-45 at that point. It was 18-8 UTEP the rest of the way, a far cry from how the Miners started the night. On UTEPs first possession, Floyd -- who isnt exactly shy about going against convention, with his box-and-one and triangle-and-two defences on display often in the Bahamas -- did something hardly ever seen anymore, especially at the start of games. He stalled, though said afterward that it wasnt a true stall, just a set with hopes of creating 3-on-2 mismatches or open drives. Think the old North Carolina "four corners," or something akin to it, anyway. Thats what the Miners did in the opening minutes, running an average of 30.1 seconds off the 35-second shot clock on their first nine possessions. Simple logic, really -- the fewer possessions Kansas had, the fewer chances it would have to score. It only sort of worked. After 5 1/2 minutes, Kansas had only two points. In that same span, the Miners had zero points. "It was different ... but I thought we adjusted well," Ellis said. The Miners missed their first six shots and didnt get on the board until 12:35 remained in the half, a drive by C.J. Cooper snapping an 0 for 6 start by UTEP and cutting Kansas lead to 7-2. By the time UTEP scored again, Kansas had already pushed the lead out to 15-2, running off eight straight. And along the way, UTEP ditched the ploy and just started playing. Thats when it became a game, for really the first time. UTEP went on an 18-11 spurt, getting within 26-20 late in the half. Wiggins -- who had been scoreless until then -- scored six straight to give Kansas a 12-point lead with 1:30 left, and Seldens acrobatic drive gave the Jayhawks a 34-25 lead at the break. But UTEP hung around, all the way to the end. "We didnt want to leave here without getting better for the rest of the season," Hunter said. "I believe we did. I believe we got better, playing the No. 2 team in the country." ' ' '