Murray seeks world No 2 ranking

Andy Murray may have flunked Wimbledon but he is hoping to go into the record books by becoming the first British player ever to be ranked number two in the world.

The Scotsman's chance comes because Rafael Nadal, the current number two, is still not over the knee injury that kept him out of Wimbledon this year. As a result, the Spaniard has not competed since he was knocked out of the French Open by Robin Soderling on May 31, and has had very little practice either.

Today, Nadal goes into the Canadian Masters in Montreal - one of the warm-ups for the US Open which starts at the end of the month - saying he is "prepared to lose" as a result of his lack of match fitness.

Murray, on the other hand, enters the north American stage of the international tennis calendar looking fit, strong and having got over his disappointment at being beaten by Andy Roddick at Wimbledon.

According to the Guardian, Murray has undergone a gruelling fitness regime in Miami, mixing "brutal" 400m sprints under the Florida sun with arduous practice sessions, working on every aspect of his game. To build up his body strength, he has been taking in 5,500 calories a day - which involves munching platefuls of sushi.

As for the Montreal contest, Murray finds himself in the same half of the drawer as the man who won Wimbledon and is the current world number one, Roger Federer.

The Swiss maestro apparently discussed the notion of backing out and staying at home with his wife and newborn twins, before deciding he needed to get match-fit before Flushing Meadows. ·