Kyle Edmund set to take over from Andy Murray as British No 1

Edmund is currently out of action but is expected to be fit in time for Indian Wells

By Raz Mirza

Image: Kyle Edmund is now the leading British player

Kyle Edmund is set to take over from Andy Murray as the British men's No 1 when the next set of rankings are published next Monday.

Yorkshireman Edmund will leapfrog his training partner and Davis Cup team-mate Murray to become Britain's top-ranked male tennis player in the latest ATP singles rankings.

The change will come about when Murray's points for winning the Dubai Championships in 2016 are eliminated from the calculations, despite Edmund not featuring at the moment through injury.

Murray has not played a competitive match since last year's Wimbledon and remains sidelined after undergoing surgery on his troublesome hip last month.

It's big news because Murray has held that position for a long period of time.
Barry Cowan

In the meantime 23-year-old Edmund reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January which enabled him to jump from the 49th-ranked player on the tour up to a career best world No 25.

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Sky Sports' tennis analyst Barry Cowan says Edmund's rise has been well deserved but he must now concentrate on making further progress up the world rankings.

"It's big news because Murray has held that position for a long period of time," said Cowan. "For Kyle, what's been important is that he's very much established himself as a top player, and also his world ranking in how he can take his tennis to the next level.

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"What he achieved in Melbourne was incredible but what would have disappointed him is that injury and illness has halted his progress since then. What's important is to try and get back playing tournaments and being 100 per cent fit.

"Indian Wells will be his next target and hopefully he will be close to full fitness."

Edmund joins list of British greats...

Andy Murray's 12-year reign as Britain's top player has come to an end for now with Kyle Edmund joining a list of greats including Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman, Jeremy Bates, Andrew Castle, Buster Mottram, Mark Cox, and Roger Taylor as British No 1.

We're covering the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and ATP 500 Acapulco on sky.mnosports.com/tennis with news, previews, live blogs, reports and expert analysis.

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