Andy Murray has insisted he was too young for a knighthood after finishing the year as world No 1.
The 29-year-old defeated rival Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena on Sunday to cap off the finest year of his career to date.
It was a fitting finale to a brilliant season which saw him win a second Wimbledon crown, become the first man to win successive Olympic gold medals and end the year with 24 victories on the bounce, which was enough for him to overhaul Djokovic at the summit of the game.
Murray already has an OBE to his name, awarded after his maiden Wimbledon title in 2013, but there have been calls for a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list – something the Scot thinks he may be too young for.
“It’s the highest honour you can get in this country,” Murray said. “But I don’t know, I feel like too young for something like that.
“I don’t think about that stuff much, really. When I win any award or am presented with anything it is nice because it is recognition for what you have given your life to, up to now anyway.
“However, I’m still young and there are still a lot of things that can go wrong, I could still mess up and make mistakes – do stuff. I’m just trying to keep doing what I am doing, working hard, and achieving things.”
Murray toppled Djokovic from the top of the rankings a fortnight ago and he had to outperform the Serb in London to keep his No 1 ranking through the winter months.
He did so in style with victories over the players ranked No 7 (Marin Cilic), No 5 (Kei Nishikori), No 3 (Stan Wawrinka), No 4 (Milos Raonic) and No 2 (Djokovic).
Murray was the long-time world No 4 behind Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but after a spectacular run of five titles this autumn, he is enjoying being the man to beat for the first time in his career.
“When I was always fourth in the world, I never liked losing, but it didn’t have the same kind of impact because I wasn’t No 1 and it wasn’t like I was holding on to something,” he said. “Fourth place in the world is still great but it isn’t No 1.
“Maybe now, especially the last few months when I have had that goal and have been trying to get there, I want to stay there. I feel motivated to keep going.
“I’ve enjoyed the last five or six months the most I have in my entire career. That is probably because I have won a lot, so I want to keep going.”
