Andy Murray’s fourth round upset at the Australian Open delayed his chance of finally winning the Australian Open title. But, coupled with Novak Djokovic’s equally stunning loss in the second round, meant that the Briton received an unexpected cushion for holding onto his place as the World No 1.

The three-time Grand Slam champion, who is playing at the Dubai Open this week, was specifically asked about there being additional onus on him to extend his hold at the top of the ranking, to which he had quite a pragmatic answer. “If I had to stop tomorrow, I would be happy. I have given my best effort through pretty much all of my career,” Murray said, before adding, “I am 29 years old and I’m not putting pressure on myself to do more than what I’ve done, just enjoy what I have done. I don’t need to stay at No. 1. I mean, nothing bad happens if I become the No. 2. My life is okay, no one dies if I lose the No. 1 ranking.”

To that end, the Scot also believes that the current spate of tennis, which has seen more number of older players, especially players in their late 20s and in their 30s surging with unexpected breakthroughs, increases the probability of an older player becoming World No 1. Correlating this aspect to his own late ascension, Murray then pointed out, “Getting to No.1 at my age, for me personally, it took a lot of time, a lot of energy and focus. [It took] a lot of perseverance, a lot of tough losses, [and] a lot of time learning from people around me. It’s not something that just happened, it’s taken a long time. A lot of players are playing older now as well. It seems like players are getting to their peak at a slightly later age. So maybe this will become more normal.”

In this context then, Stan Wawrinka makes for a notable mention, given that the Swiss has come to be the most surprising multiple Grand Slam champion in the course of the last three years even as he has changed the wave of expectations most inclusively in his favour.