Andy Murray has revealed that he felt the world No 1 ranking was not within his grasp up until the last couple of years.
Reaching the final of the Paris Masters - after Milos Raonic's withdrawal from their semi-final - coupled with Novak Djokovic's quarter-final exit to Marin Cilic, means 29-year-old Murray will take over from the Serb at the top of the world rankings on Monday.
And Murray, who first reached the No 2 spot in 2009 and has held the position for 76 weeks in total during his career, admits that it became a goal that edged closer the further up the game he got.
"I'm very proud to have done it," he told Sky Sports. "It wasn't something I dreamt of a kid. I just wanted to play tennis and become a professional tennis player and then to try and get into the top 100.
"Once I got there, you then want to get into the top 50 and then the top 20.
"From No 2 to No 1 seems like a small gap. It's only one place, but it is by far the hardest one to reach and it's been a long time.
"I thought about it a bit this year and last year, but before that it wasn't something I felt that close to. It's only been the last few months that I got close, as Novak was 7,000-8,000pts ahead of me after the French Open, so it's been a great few months."
The Scot becomes the the oldest first-time No 1 since John Newcombe in 1974 and had often spoken ranking as a goal for next season.
Murray has also been adamant that it would be reward for a sustained period of success and effort, and he reserved praise for his coaching team.
"It's a lot of hard work," he added. "Many, many years I have been on the tour and not got there and I've always been behind Novak, Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal], who are three of the best players of all time, without question.
"I've had to persevere and I have had to be very patient, keep learning and keep improving. I have done that, but it's not only myself; it's been with my whole team that I work with, who help me a lot.
"Big thanks to Jamie Delgado, as he is with me every single week of the year. Getting to No 1 takes 12 months and he has been there for every single moment, all of the ups and downs. He has helped me a lot."
