It has been a Herculean journey from Dunblane, via Spain, to the summit of the world tennis rankings.
Yet nobody who has followed Andy Murray’s progress since he burst into the sport in the late 1990s will be surprised at the latest history-making feat by the 29-year-old Scot, who has climbed to No 1 in the global rankings after 76 weeks of playing catch-up to Novak Djokovic.
The news might have arrived in slightly strange circumstances on Saturday after Milos Raonic withdrew with an injury from his semi-final Paris Masters meeting with Murray.
But the latter has been knocking at the door for so long, while surging to title after title, that it’s impossible to question the Scot’s right to become the first British player to gaze down on all his opponents.
Just consider the litany of exploits which he has achieved since he triumphed at Wimbledon in 2013.
We’ve relished him spearheading Britain’s victory in the Davis Cup last year, where he and his brother Jamie – who has reached No 1 on the doubles circuit – took on all-comers and sent them packing with a blend of talent, technique, brotherly love and sheer bloody-mindedness.
And it has been joyous to behold him surge to repeated success in 2016, whether winning again at Wimbledon, or carrying the flag at the Rio Olympics, as the prelude to sweeping all before him in Brazil and collecting another gold medal.
Oh, and he became a father this year, though you wouldn’t detect any loss of focus in his recent performances.
Murray might not be a smooth-talking schmoozer. He can be cussed, stubborn and occasionally punish himself unduly for minor mistakes. But that very rage, unstinting work ethic and driven desire for perfectionism have transformed him into arguably Scotland’s greatest-ever star.
He has already been voted the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year on two occasions and the calls will doubtless increase for him to be knighted.
Yet Murray is the trailblazer, who has always been more interested in the trail than the blazer. And now he has reached pole position in the rankings, there is no reason to think he won’t be king of the world for a long time.
After all, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both on the wane and Murray’s dogged persistence and perseverance seem to have nagged away at Djokovic’s resolve.
Both men are the same age – they were born within a week of each other in 1987 – but the momentum lies with the fellow whom critics have labelled dour, but whose supporters believe has transformed the whole sport in his homeland.
And, just like Frank Sinatra, he has done it his way!
