When Serena Williams captured Wimbledon and became the holders of 3 of 4 Slams (everything besides the French), she wondered aloud why she wasn’t number 1.

The main reason is her lack of any other titles other than the Slams.  The Williams sisters seem to ignore any tournament that isn’t a slam.  How do they explain results like losing in the first round.

A similar argument has been applied to Andy Murray.  When Murray became number 3 and was anointed as the “to be crowned” champion of Wimbledon, some, most notably Federer, bristled at the notion.  Although Federer has generally been respectful to the world number 3, he still had more respect for Roddick who had at least won a Slam and reached a few more finals.  Murray had reached one Slam final, and was number 3 in the world, primarily on strong performances at hardcourt events and indoor events.

There was a combination of factors that recently allowed Andy Murray to overtake Rafael Nadal as the world’s number 2.  Perhaps the biggest two factors were losing in the fourth round at the French and not playing Wimbledon.  Murray, by contrast, made the quarterfinals of the French and the semifinals of Wimbledon, both significantly better than Nadal.  Nadal also didn’t play much at the end of last year due to injury.

Intriguingly, del Potro had role too.  He twice beat Nadal, once in Miami (an event Murray won) and once again at the Roger’s Cup.  Nadal was defending champ at the Roger’s Cup so he lost points compared to last year, while Murray lost in the semifinals last year, so his final’s appearance this year is an improvement.

Now if you’re surprised that Murray is number 2, that’s because no one outside of Federer and Nadal have been 1 and 2 since July of 2005 when Nadal supplanted Lleyton Hewitt as number 2 in the world.  For the last 4 years, it’s been Federer and Nadal, and Nadal and Federer.  Last year, Djokovic had chances to become number 2, but Nadal held tough and held his rank (this was prior to Wimbledon during the clay season).

There’s likely to be a bit of jostling at the number 2 position because Andy Murray is going to have a lot of points to defend.  If he wins Montreal, he’ll at least compensate for Cincinnati last year which he won over Djokovic (beating him twice in two tournaments).  However, Djokovic is close, and because Federer lost early, his points will be a little closer to everyone else’s.  The second half of the year promises to be interesting, especially if del Potro continues to improve.  What may throw a wrinkle in that plan is Andy Roddick who is trying to play a strong 2009 before he gets too old (funny that 26 is considered old).

So congratulations to Murray for reaching number 2 in the world, the best rank for a British player in the Open era.  Most people will want him to back up this ranking with a Slam title.  That will make for an interesting US Open, which is Murray’s best surface.

Credit Murray for being the only top 4 seeded player to make it to the semifinals, and for making it to the finals over a tough Tsonga.