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Cape Town - Former tennis great John McEnroe has lauded Andy Murray for his terrific achievements in the game of late.
Only six months ago, the idea that anyone could challenge Novak Djokovic's status as the world's best player seemed unthinkable, but the Scot knuckled down and produced a series of remarkable results that saw him not only overtake Djokovic at the top of the world rankings, but prove his newfound status was deserved by defeating the Serb in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Murray's victory in London on Sunday left Djokovic admitting: "Andy is definitely number one in the world."
McEnroe was complimentary of Murray's efforts, while also warning him that several players will look to step in the void created by Djokovic's dip in form.
"Murray is an amazing athlete. He's going to try to take advantage of this time because it's limited, we all know that," said the former number one to BBC Sport.
"I do anticipate he's going to do everything possible to take advantage of it.
"But I would hope there's a lot of hungry players behind him that see a void and an opening, as well as Novak, who wants to catch Rafa Nadal and potentially Roger Federer."
Murray has clearly worked exceptionally hard at transforming himself into a world beater.
One clear example of his improvement is with his second serve. Once considered a weakness in his game, Murray has managed to turn it into a strength.
"He's been extremely patient, he's persevered and he's also gotten better. That combination is hard to do when you've been dealt a bunch of blows against three of the greatest players who ever lived.
"To come out of that a better player, and a better man it appears, is pretty amazing, so I give him a lot of credit."
