Andy Murray took the No. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters earlier this month, and he cemented his status as the world’s best player this past weekend when he defeated the Serb in straight sets to win the ATP Finals.
After losing back-to-back matches to Kei Nishikori and Juan Martin del Potro at the U.S. Open and Davis Cup semifinals, respectively, Murray won 26 straight matches to end the season. Djokovic, meanwhile, saw his level drop significantly after winning the French Open in June.
How did Murray leapfrog Djokovic? And why did the 12-time Grand Slam champion win just one title after his triumph at Roland Garros?
Boris Becker, Djokovic’s coach, has a theory.
“He didn’t have any opponents anymore,” Becker told *CNN*. “His time was with [Rafael] Nadal, with [Roger] Federer. Andy was always the fourth guy. So he lost a little bit of his opponents. Murray is showing something he hasn’t shown before.”