Andy Murray moved to his highest on the ATP Tour in over 5 years after he won an ATP Challenger event in France.
Every Monday, the ATP Rankings are updated, and when looking at the most recent update, the former world no. 1 certainly had a smile on his face. Back in 2018, Murray started the season as world no. 16, but he finished as the 839th ranked player due to injuries forcing him out of play.
Once he made his return to the ATP Tour, his highest came last year, when the Scot climbed up to 43rd place in September last year. However, this year, Murray slipped to 70th place and his dream of being seeded at a Grand Slam again seemed to be disappearing in the distance.
But it's been a trademark of Murray's career to never give up and always come back, and he did it once more. After a terrible start to the clay-court season, he entered an ATP Challenger tournament in France and it proved to be one of the better decisions.
The Scot won the event and thanks to an upgrade of ATP Challenger events, he received 175 points for his triumph, only 75 points less than he would get for winning an ATP 250 tournament like he did in Antwerp in 2019.
Thanks to all the new points, Murray moved up by 10 places in the ATP Rankings, surpassing his previous five-year high 43rd place by moving to 42nd with 965 points to his name. But what will be even more important for him is the fact that he started playing really well ahead of two important events.
Murray is expected to compete at the 2023 Italian Open in Rome and then also at the 2023 Roland Garros in Paris, as he expressed his desire to play in the French capital at least once more before retiring.
His triumph in Aix-En-Provence was not just significant for the Scot but also record-breaking. With 17 years and 9 months between his first and last ATP Challenger win, Murray broke the previous record which was held by David Ferrer who won those trophies with 17 years and 2 months in between.
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