Andy Murray of Britain reacts during his men's singles match against Jeremy Chardy of France during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, June 1, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler
Briton Andy Murray will take over from Novak Djokovic as world number one Tennis player when the rankings are updated on Monday.
This was after his Paris Masters semi-final opponent Milos Raonic withdrew with a leg injury on Saturday.
“I have a grade one tear on my right quad and unfortunately won’t be able to face Murray in the semi-final,” Canadian Raonic told a news conference.
The record four-time champion Djokovic arrived in Paris to reach the final to ensure he remained ahead of a rapidly approaching Murray.
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But the Serb’s bid to register a fourth straight title in the French capital ended abruptly as an improbable escape act fizzled out against an in-form Marin Cilic.
The ninth seed, Cilic dumped a struggling Djokovic out of the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday to pave the way for Andy Murray to become the new world number one.
Cilic had lost all 14 previous meetings with Djokovic but cast the Serb’s 122-week reign at the top of the rankings into serious doubt with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) victory.
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Second seed Murray on his part, beat Czech’s Tomas Berdych 7-6 (11-9) 7-5 to book a semi-finals berth later and came just two wins from supplanting long-time rival Djokovic at the summit.
The Briton was expected to take on Raonic who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a chance to claim the number one ranking, but the game could not take place as Raonic was walked over due to an injury.
This, thus paved the way for Murray to become Tennis World one for the first time ever in his career.
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