Tennis Story

08 January 2009 03:11 BST

Qatar win puts Murray in top 10

British number one Andy Murray has re-entered the world's top ten after winning the Qatar Open in Doha last week.

The 21-year-old Scot leapfrogged Argentina's David Nalbandian and Spain's Tommy Robredo in the standings to move up from his 2007 end-of-year ranking of 11th overall.

His three-set victory over Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday moved him to within one spot of his career-best ATP ranking of eight, which he achieved in June 2007.

A wrist injury forced him to take three months away from the tour over the summer last year, which saw him slump to 19th in the world by October.

However, a good run of form and a return to fitness in the autumn months meant the talented Briton missed out on the season-ending Masters Cup by only one spot.

He had looked on course for the top eight in the end-of-year rankings but he was defeated by Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters at the end of October to end his hopes of qualifying for Shanghai showpiece.

Murray's move into the top ten was the only change in the standings, with Roger Federer continuing to dominate at the top.

Number two Rafael Nadal maintains his position as the Swiss star's closest challenger despite losing heavily in the final of the Chennai Open to Mikhail Youzhny, who climbs four places to 15th.

Full ATP top ten:

1- Roger Federer
2- Rafael Nadal
3- Novak Djokovic
4- Nikolay Davydenko
5- David Ferrer
6- Andy Roddick
7- Fernando Gonzalez
8- Richard Gasquet
9- Andy Murray
10- David Nalbandian