Andy Murray re-enters top 40 after 5-year absence

Andy Murray secured his second ATP Challenger title in as many weeks, downing Arthur Cazaux in the final in Nottingham in straight sets. With the run, the Brit has returned to the top 40 of the rankings for the first time in five years.

Top seed at the Rothesay Open, Murray prevailed 6-4, 6-4 to follow up on his title run at the Surbiton Trophy last week. Before beating Cazaux, the former World No. 1 had scored wins overs Joris De Loore, Hugo Grenier, Dominic Stricker and Nuno Borges -- all without dropping a set.

In Surbiton, Murray took down Hyeon Chung, Bu Yunchaokete, Jason Kubler, Jordan Thompson and Jurij Rodionov, losing just one set to Kubler in the quarterfinals.

The 36-year-old is ranked No. 38 in the world, a big improvement on the World No. 70 position he occupied in February earlier this year. The last time Murray was ranked in the top 40 was in April 2019.

With the Queen's Club Championships coming up next, where Murray takes on Alex de Minaur in his opener, the three-time Grand Slam champion has an excellent chance of being seeded for Wimbledon.

A deep run in London will almost certainly be enough to give him a seed spot at SW19, while only beating De Minaur might still be enough, depending on results elsewhere. Less than a 100 ranking points separate Murray (1,030) and World No. 32 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (1,115).

---

Andy Murray breaks into top 30 in ATP Race to Turin

Rothesay Open Nottingham - Day Seven

Andy Murray is at No. 27 in the Live ATP Race to Turin, having scored 750 ranking points this year. The title run in Nottingham added 125 points to his tally, taking him above the likes of Sebastian Baez, Ben Shetlon and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Andy Murray is now within 150 points of Tallon Griekspoor (No. 22, 900), Lorenzo Musetti (No. 23, 885) Borna Coric (No. 24, 880), Jiri Lehecka (No. 25, 847) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (No. 26. 795).

Novak Djokovic continues to lead the race, thanks to his wins at the Australian Open and French Open. Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz occupy the second and third positions respectively, with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune bringing up the the next two spots. Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud complete the top eight.

The last time Andy Murray competed at the ATP Finals was in 2016, where he went all the way by beating four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final. With the win, he also attained the year-end No. 1 ranking for the first time.