Andy Murray has defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and move a big step closer to overtaking Novak Djokovic as the world's top-ranked player.
The 29-year-old claimed a 6-3 7-6(6) victory in just short of two hours in what was his 78th singles match of the year, earning title number seven of a profitable 2016 in the process.
Murray put on a dominant showing in the opening set, breaking his opponent in the second game to race three ahead and successfully holding out to grab a big foothold in the match.
Tsonga again lost serve early on in the second set, but the Frenchman did manage to recover slightly to prolong the contest by taking it to a tie-break, which Murray edged 8-6.
The British ace will replace Djokovic as world number one should he win next week's Paris Masters and his Serbian rival fail to reach the final of that competition.
Daniel Lewis
