Andy Murray has secured his first ATP World Tour Finals title, and will now finish the year as the world number one.
Having gone top when he reached the final of the Paris Masters last month, the Scot needed to at least match the performance of Novak Djokovic at London's O2 Arena, with the Serb seemingly rediscovering his best form as he swept aside his three round robin stage opponents and blitzed Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-final.
With Murray coming through a tough three-set semi-final against Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic to seal his place, the stage was set for the perfect climax to the year as the two best players in the men's game went head-to-head for the world number one spot.
Murray was the more tired of the two, his 5-7, 7-6, (7-5), 7-6 (11-9) win over Raonic lasting three hours and 38 minutes, the second time in the tournament Murray had been involved in setting a new record for the longest three-set match at the ATP World Tour Finals.
However, it was the new world number one who showed why he is now the best, digging deep and producing another superb display in front of a partisan crowd. By contrast, Djokovic made 30 unforced errors and it took just one break for Murray to snare the first set 6-3.
That was followed by two more breaks of serve in the second as the Wimbledon champion raced into a 4-1 lead. Djokovic was able to get one break back, but Murray stayed cool and took the set 6-4 to tick another big trophy off his ever-shrinking tennis wish-list.
Speaking after the match, Murray said: “It’s a very special day, playing against Novak in a match like this.
"We’ve played in Grand Slam finals, Olympics and matches like this - it’s been a tough rivalry. I’ve lost many of them, but I am happy to have got the win today to clinch the year-end number one."
Murray's next target will be a maiden Australian Open title after five defeats in the final, four of them to Djokovic, and beyond that a clean sweep of the Grand Slams if he can add the French Open title.
London-based fans will get their next chance to see Murray as he seeks to defend his Aegon Championships title at the Queen's Club in June, before embarking on his Wimbledon defence.
If the sky seems the limit for Andy Murray just now, he isn't the only member of the family feeling on top of the world.
Brother Jamie and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares are now the number one-ranked doubles team after outperforming the Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. The French pair failed to make the semi-finals of the tournament after being defeated in their final group match by Henri Kontinen and Murray's former partner, John Peers.
While Murray and Soares lost their semi-final against Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-1, 6-4, Peers and Kontinen went on to win the tournament, suggesting the pre-season switch of partners was one of the better career moves either Murray or Peers will ever make.
This year's successes for the pair include winning the Australian and US Open titles.