Murray secures world number two status with Montreal victory

ANDY Murray secured his world number two ranking with a semi-final victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

CONFIDENT: Having overtaken Rafael Nadal to become world number two, Andy Murray is now targeting Roger Federer's top spot

The number three seed, the top ranked player remaining following the quarter-final defeats of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, won 6-4, 7-6 and will now play Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s final after the Argentine defeated Andy Roddick 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the other semi-final.

Murray's victory means he moves above Nadal, who has spent the last ten weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury and was defending maximum points in Canada, following his triumph there last year.

It will be the first time in five years that the Federer/Nadal dominance of the top two places on the ATP Tour South African Airways rankings has been broken.

"To get past Rafa is incredible," said Murray.

"Roger and Rafa are so consistent and I didn't know if I was ever going to get there. Just one more to go now."

Despite struggling with his first serve, Murray was certainly value for his win while Tsonga looked drained from his epic victory over Federer one day earlier.

"It's difficult to play him, he dictates everything,” added Murray.

"He hits huge forehands, drop shots and has good feel. You just try to stay solid, and he came up with a few errors at the end."

Del Potro looks in ominous form and will represent Murray’s toughest test in his first tournament since losing in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

He has won his last ten consecutive hardcourt matches and also beat Roddick in last weekend’s Legg Mason Classic final in Washington.

"I think I've lost twice to the best version of him," admitted Roddick.

"He's hitting big shots off his forehand and backhand and I think he's serving very well. He’s a handful.”