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.


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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.