"Becoming world number one is every sports person's dream and it's something I've worked towards all of my squash life since I turned professional in 1998.

"The enormity of it certainly hasn't sunk in yet (there's something about being a squash player that keeps your feet firmly on the ground!) and at the time it certainly came out of the blue, as I had prepared myself to have to beat Ramy in front of all his fans in the final if I were to achieve my goal!

"Squash missing out on London 2012, and Rio 2016 for that matter, was a massive blow and hopefully this will give the sport of squash a much-needed boost in this country. England squash is currently enjoying its most successful period ever and hopefully, as a group, we can inspire the next generation of players.

"With the season being over now, it's a great time to have achieved this.

"It means I can put my feet up for a few weeks and then come back refreshed and ready for the new challenge of holding on to the top spot. When I come back I will be reassessing my goals - and becoming World Champion and winning Commonwealth gold will be very high on the agenda."


World Number One

"There is no one out there at the minute that deserves this more than Nick. Over the last three or four years he has had more setbacks than anyone - but he has never once complained.

"Instead, fearlessly and relentlessly, he has come back time after time with this as the main goal in mind. It will have meant everything for him to reach world number one and he will not want to let this feeling go. The other guys on the Tour are going to have to double efforts to get it back from him.

"Squash is in a fantastic place at the moment, as any one of five or six players can win one of the major events - and this is leading to very high quality matches and tournaments. The second half the year starts again in Canberra, Australia for the Australian Open in August - and all eyes will be on Nick Matthew to see how he handles the extra pressure."


PSA CEO