Jamie Murray to be no 1 in doubles

Congrats to Jamie Murray. After a career that threatened to be on the decline trend and not fulfilling his potential a few years ago, he can now claim the no 1 ranking as well as doubles and mixed double's titles at slam level as well as Davis Cup amongst other achievements.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/35909293

I don't post BBC articles very often, as they can be lightweight, but this one is a bit better.

A hearty clap to the man. A reward for a great 12 months and reversal of the direction his career was going

Well done to Jamie Murray for his persistence and determination that has allowed him to remain in the sport of tennis on the international competitive stage.  It is harder for double players to survive compared to singles players, because there is less money and sponsorship to be had.

Reaching number one in the world is a highly symbolic achievement creating a mental environment for other British players that they can use to help sustain their belief and motivation that they too can be recognisable achievers in the global sport of tennis.  It is up to the LTA to harness that opportunity in promoting the game, but they instead decide to make multimillionaires out of figures like Roger Draper with aspirations of creating white elephants in their privileged backyards.

Following on from a bit of a discussion on the Miami thread with BB about top players not playing doubles, it will be interesting to see how the Murray brothers handle the pressure in the Olympics. Even if they fall back a bit in ranking before August, they are still likely to be top 5 in doubles/top 5 in singles and there'll be expectations on them from the Brit press (and no doubt themselves) to do well. But there will be other strong teams such as Fognini/Bolelli, Mahut/Herbert, Berdych/Stepanek and possibly Federer/Wawrinka (though I doubt Fed wants to play 3 events), and the seedings protect no-one really as they are only done on doubles ranking. I'd predict Murrays losing early. Should be a good tournament though if you like doubles played at top level.