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Murray: Ranking secondary to trophies

Andy Murray is targeting consistency in his hunt for the No. 1 ranking © PA Photos

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Andy Murray has played down his chances of topping the world rankings before the end of the season, but is taking renewed confidence from his US Open triumph.

The world No. 3 believes he is capable of becoming the world's best player, but has rejected Roger Federer's claims the Scot could end the year as world No. 1.

Murray, who will kick off the defence of his Shanghai Masters title against Germany's Florian Mayer, says his ranking goal should be secondary to winning trophies.

"You need to focus more on the process and not so much just 'No. 1, No. 1'," Murray said. "I need to concentrate on the tournaments and the events that I'm playing.

"I'll try to do as well as I can between now and the end of the year. If I do that, there's a possibility to get to No. 1 next year.

"But it's so hard to do just now because of what the guys ahead of me are doing every single week. But to get to No. 1, you need to win grand slams. The Australian Open is obviously the next major focus for me."

Murray, who ended Britain's 76-year wait for a male singles grand slam champion in New York last month, admitted he felt an overriding feeling of relief after his victory at Flushing Meadows.

"I hope it gives me some more confidence when I'm on the court," he said. "You know, that's the one thing that I hope I would have got out of it.

"I mean, I haven't felt so different. I felt, yeah, a lot of relief. It was a big weight off my back at the time. So, you know, getting on the practice court, getting in the gym and stuff, has become a bit easier probably.

"Sometimes when you've had a lot of hard losses, you sometimes question whether doing all that stuff is worth it."

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