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The Briton will top the ATP world rankings if he wins the
indoor tournament at the Bercy Arena and Serbian Djokovic does
not reach the final, or if he makes it to the final and the
world number one falters before the semis.
"I can obviously try and win my matches, but even if I win all
of my matches this week, I still might not get there," world
number two Murray told a news conference on Monday.
"So it's in Novak's hands. He's ahead obviously just now, so if
he wins his matches and gets to the latter stages of the last
two tournaments, then he'll most likely keep the No. 1 spot."
Murray has been in fine form lately, winning 15 tour matches in
succession since his defeat by Japan's Kei Nishikori in the U.S.
Open quarter-finals.
Murray then won three tournaments in a row - the China Open, the
Shanghai Masters and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Sunday.
"I don't feel any differently now to how I did kind of six,
eight weeks ago. My goal wasn't to finish No. 1 at the end of
this year," he said.
"I wanted to finish this year as strong as possible and I think
there is a lot stronger chance of doing it in the early part of
next year, which is what I targeted rather than this week."
World number three Stan Wawrinka, who has a potential semi-final
clash against Djokovic in Paris, thinks the Serbian remains a
formidable opponent even if he has been in less impressive form
after completing his career slam at the French Open in June.
"As a player, I think it's going to be rather nice to see if
they are going to be able to come closer. Novak just lost three
matches in three tournaments. People talk," the Swiss said.
"But for the rest, he always won. We are saying Novak is in a
crisis, but he's still No. 1 and, at worst, still finish No. 2,
top 2, so the crisis is okay, no?"
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
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