Murray one win away from becoming World No.1 in Paris

British maestro Andy Murray's quest to become world number one continued after he defeated Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in straight sets to storm into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters here on Saturday.

The second-seed, who is just one win away from the numero one ranking, survived a first-set tie-breaker to tough out a 7-6(9), 7-5 win over Berdych in a thrilling last-eight contest that lasted about two hours.

Excited to see himself moving in the right direction, Murray described 'consistency' as his key to success before admitting that he had played some of his best tennis in last few weeks.

"Getting to No. 1, like I said, is 12 months of work. Consistency. I have never done that before. In my career, I have had periods where I have been consistent for a few months at a time and then drop-offs. Whereas, this year, barring the month in March, I can't have done much better than I had done," Murray was quoted as saying by atpworldtour.com.

"I have put myself in a position to do something that takes a lot of consistency, a lot of concentration for a long period of time. I'm happy about that," he added.

Despite three grand slam titles, Murray has never been a world number one. He has picked a total of six titles this year, including clinching victories at Wimbledon and Rio Olympics.

If Murray wins his semi-final clash against Canada's Milos Raonic, then he will dethrone top-ranked Novak Djokovic and become the second-oldest player since John Newcombe in 1974 to debut at No. 1.