Scott Sears, the brother of tennis star Andy Murray's wife Kim, has reportedly broken the record to become the youngest person ever to reach the South Pole solo, unsupported and unassisted. The Guinness Book of Records has yet to verify Sears' effort, but it is believed he has beaten the previous record holder by two years.

Lieutenant Scott Sears, from the First Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, arrived at the South Pole on Christmas Day after 38 days. He exceeded his expectation to complete the 702-mile journey in 40 to 50 days.

In an emotional Instagram post, the 27-year-old said he was "absolutely chuffed to pieces" before thanking all the people behind the scenes who made his trek successful.

Yet people have mocked some of the news reports of Sears' amazing achievement for appearing to keep him in Murray's shadow.

The BBC News headline read: "Murray's brother-in-law treks alone to South Pole." Meanwhile the Independent said: "Andy Murray's brother-in-law Lieutenant Scott Sears 'becomes youngest person to reach the South Pole solo'", and the Mirror used very similar wording.

Music journalist Chris Salmon mocked the BBC headline on Twitter, imagining Sears saying: "I'm so SICK of everyone thinking of me as just the brother of Andy Murray's wife. I'm Scott Sears. I'm an actual person. So I'm going to become the youngest person to reach the South Pole solo. Then SURELY they'll recognise me as an individual my own right..."

TV producer Ed Collard agreed with the sentiment, tweeting: "A little galling to do all this and still be in the shadow of a bloke who hits a ball for a living. Let's hear it for #ScottSears in his own right."

Kevin Roberts sent the headlines up by saying: "Looking forward to the 'Scott Sears' brother-in-law wins Wimbledon' headline next summer." Alistair Coleman compared Sears to George Clooney's wife Amal, a hugely successful barrister. He said: "This headline should be "Scott (Sears) of the Antarctic", but the poor sod gets this."

Even Judy Murray, Andy's mum, clarified his familial position in her congratulatory tweet, saying: "Well done Scott Sears - (brother of Andys wife Kim) youngest person to reach the South Pole on a solo mission. Got there on Christmas Day......" Andy has not yet tweeted since Sears broke the record.

Andy Murray