Andy Murray claimed his 11th Masters 1000 title when he ended an eight-match losing streak against Novak Djokovic in the Rogers Cup final on Sunday, but when it comes to the game's top brass he is still the odd man out.
Of the so-called Big Four of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, twice grand slam champion Murray is the only member never to have topped the ATP rankings.
Federer, winner of 17 grand slams, has spent 302 weeks at the summit, Djokovic 160 and counting and Nadal, down at eight now, 141.
Murray, 28, moved up above Federer to second in the ATP's latest rankings on Monday, courtesy of his dazzling displays in Montreal culminating in 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Serb Djokovic in an absorbing three-hour duel.
But the Briton still trails Djokovic by nearly 6,000 points in the standings -- a huge gap that Murray has no realistic chance of closing until next year.
"It's incredibly tough," Murray, who would love to add the number one ranking to his Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic titles, told The Tennis Podcast.
"The points I've accumulated this year would sometimes be enough to get to number one in the world, at a different time. Whereas, just now I'm still almost 6000 points behind Novak. The consistency that he's shown over the last couple of years has been phenomenal and before that, Roger and Rafa were exceptional.
"I'm trying my best. I'll just keep doing that. I still feel like I have a good few years left in me, hopefully I can stay healthy and I'll give it my best shot."
Murray will hope to continue the form he showed in Montreal when he begins his assault on the Western and Southern Cincinnati Open this week -- a year after losing to Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
Then, Murray was still working his way back up after a rankings slide, but this time he is playing some of the best, most attacking tennis, of his career as he looks to win the Cincinnati title for the third time.
His first opponent will be 33-year-old American former top-10 player Mardy Fish, who recorded his first win for two years on Monday when beating Serbia's Viktor Troicki.
