Murray feels ready for the big time

TENNIS:BRITAIN'S ANDY Murray has climbed to a career-high of number six in the world after winning his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati on Sunday.

Murray's 7-6, 7-6 victory over world number three Novak Djokovic in the final saw him rise three places in the rankings. And the Scot, who now heads to the Beijing Olympics, feels he has proved he is capable of winning a Grand Slam.

"I think I have the game to win a Slam," Murray said. "My results here show I have the potential to do it. I've started to play more consistently in the bigger tournaments. And winning my first Masters event makes a big difference to my confidence.

"I have never been past the quarter-finals of a Slam before so there is still a long way to go but it is up to me to continue to work hard and produce it on court - it is just a matter of putting it all together for two weeks."

Murray could have won earlier but Djokovic survived four championship points when the Briton served leading 5-3 in the second set. He clinched it in the tie-break on his sixth championship point.

Murray overcame the Serb with an imaginative display of ground strokes, showing he has the ability to make the world's top three, producing his second victory over Djokovic in successive weeks.

Defeat prevented Djokovic, already the winner of three of the four North American Masters Series titles in the last 18 months, from completing the quartet. Djokovic had also ended soon-to-be world number one Rafael Nadal's 32-match winning streak the evening before in their semi-final.

The British number one's previous best ranking was eighth, which he reached in June 2007.

Murray's next tilt at a Grand Slam will come in the US Open at the end of August and he is aiming to continue his recent improvement. His form at the start of the American hard court season, which saw him reach the semi-finals of the Toronto Masters before his triumph in Cincinnati, has meant he has swapped places with Andy Roddick of the US, who is now ninth in the rankings.

Switzerland's Roger Federer hangs on to the number one spot, but only until August 18th when he will be replaced by Spain's Nadal.