Andy Murray is refusing to let himself lose focus despite victory in the Erste Bank Open in Vienna increasing his chances of toppling Novak Djokovic as world number one.
The Brit beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 7-6 in Vienna to secure his third consecutive title after recent successes in Beijing and Shanghai.
That leaves him trailing Djokovic by just 415 points with Murray able to surpass the Serbian if he wins next week’s Paris Masters and his rival does not reach the final.
"I get a step closer with every win but it's still a long way from here," said Murray.
"From two to one seems a small jump in a way but it's the hardest one to make. To go from 100 to 50 is more spots but is a lot easier.”
At 29 years of age, Murray would become the oldest first-time number one player in the world since John Newcombe at 30 years of age in June 1974.
Whatever happens next week though, there is no doubt that Murray has enjoyed the best spell of his career this season, with Sunday’s title representing his seventh tournament win of the year.
The reigning Wimbledon and Olympic champion controlled the final against Tsonga for the first set and half before his opponent rallied, forcing a tie-break in the second.
However Murray holds the edge of the Frenchman, winning 13 of their previous 15 meetings, and he came strong again, eventually sealing the match with an ace on his second match point.
"I was thinking more about how you are going to win the match rather than what it would mean if you did win it," added Murray, after claiming his 42nd career title in what was his 78th singles match of the year.
"But obviously it's nice to win my seventh tournament. A lot of them have come in the last few months.
"After the Australian Open I struggled a little bit for a couple of months but the last few months have been very good."
Sportsbeat 2016