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Paris/France — HEAD hero Andy Murray solidified his new status as ATP No. 1 with his eighth title of the season and a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 defeat of John Isner in the Paris Masters final. The win came after the Scot’s 2016 performances dethroned fellow HEAD ace Novak Djokovic from the top spot after a run of 122 weeks. “I felt really nervous before the match, but I didn’t feel flat”, said Murray — who recommends the HEAD Graphene XT Radical. “It’s great to win, but sometimes after you achieve something big or that you maybe didn’t expect, it can be quite easy to have a letdown and feel a little bit flat.”

Murray clinched his new ranking when Paris semi-final opponent Milos Raonic retired injured before their match.

Djokovic, who endorses the HEAD Graphene Touch Speed, lost in the quarter-finals to fellow HEAD ace and 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic with 4-6, 6-7 (2) sending Cilic into the World Tour Finals in London. “At the end of the day, this is sport, you can’t always expect to win”, Djokovic said. “What the future brings to me, that’s not in my hands. I’m going to obviously keep playing at this level as long as I feel like that’s the right thing for me.”

Cilic, who recommends the HEAD Graphene XT Prestige, went down in the semi-finals to Isner. But the Croatian is pleased with his recent success: “It feels really good. I hope obviously to continue my good tennis for these few more weeks of the season. It means a lot for me, for my confidence at the moment, for London, for the Davis Cup final against Argentina.”

Murray beat Isner for the eighth time without a loss as he won the 43rd title of his career and heads into London as top seed. The Scotsman stretched his winning streak to 19 matches after playing in his 12th final of the season. The 29-year-old also added 400 ranking points to cushion what had been a mere five-point lead over Djokovic. He now owns trophies from seven different Masters 1000 events and is the third Briton to win at Paris Bercy after Tim Henman (2003) and Greg Rusedski (1998). Murray also knows that with only a thin 450-point lead over HEAD rival Djokovic, anything is possible in London. “I might as well try and enjoy it, because I could lose it at the Tour Finals and never be there again.”

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HEAD TENNIS, a part of HEAD BV, is a global provider and marketer of premium branded tennis apparel, footwear, and equipment for athletes of all competitive levels. Since its launch in the late 1960s, when HEAD founder Howard Head first introduced the aluminum tennis racquet, the division’s key products have attained leading market positions based on sales and reputation. Many of today´s top ATP and WTA players, including Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Maria Sharapova and Sloane Stephens are part of the HEAD Tennis family. For more information, please visit: head.com/tennis.