The Renshaws and the Dohertys began the process in the 19th century, Tony Mottram and Buster, his son, were players of distinction, the influence of the Lloyd brothers, David and John, continues to resonate, but one wonders, as the first shots are ready to be exchanged in the 2008 season, if the sport in Britain has possessed a name as potent as Murray.

It does not bear thinking where British tennis would be without them, the mother who charted the course and the sons who have followed it. Andy, the eleventh-best singles player on the year-ending rankings, and Jamie, ranked 32 in doubles and, along with Jelena Jankovic, the Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, are both in Doha, Qatar, for the first tournament of the year, impatient for the off.

Back home, at Britain’s plush headquarters in Roehampton, South West London, LTA fingers and toes are crossed. Many of the expansive programmes it has in mind to sell tennis to a population that rarely felt driven to invest in rackets and balls by the exploits of Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski depend on the Murrays - Andy especially - doing the business. Now that he has cut his ties with Brad Gilbert - the American coach whom the LTA subsidised to a breathtaking amount - and has chosen to pay his own bills, how far does the association’s influence over him extend? That troubles the LTA. How much in love will he remain with the Davis Cup unless he sees a quality of player able to make up more than the team numbers? That keeps its officials awake at nights.

It is not Murray’s fault that he is the only British male in the top 189 players in the world - Alex Bogdanovic, who starts his campaign in an ATP Challenger series event in New Caledonia, is at No 190 - but it is his burden, for better or worse. And thus, before the first of the many winners we can expect from him in the coming year is struck, it is important to put into context the talent and fearless-ness of the 20-year-old.

Murray is, without equivocation, the most talented player we have seen in this country. Whether he will go on to maximise that ability, no one can tell, but that he is special cannot be contradicted. He reads the game beautifully, plays it quite like no one else and with such an assuredness in himself that if things are out by a degree or so, he rages inside and when Gilbert was the sitting duck in the coach’s box, he raged at the American.

Opponents dread him because he can make them look hopeless, rendering impotent their better weapons. He has every stroke at his disposal and an appreciation of the court and its nuances very few players are blessed with. Ask Roger Federer, the world No 1, who he least likes to face and, hand on heart, he will tell you it is the Scot. It is difficult to appreciate the waves of relief that crashed over the sport men’s locker-room this year when the extent of Murray’s wrist injury was confirmed. One only has to consider how close he came to qualifying for the Masters Cup in Shanghai having missed the thick edge of three months to wonder at what he will do when he has an injury-free year. By the law of averages, he is due one.

When, last month, he parted company with Gilbert, few who followed their partnership closely were shocked. The talkative Gilbert had started to body-swerve those who once found him bursting with verbiage on almost anything. He has stayed on the LTA payroll but his role is as fuzzy as official answers about what he is being paid, what his responsibilities are and whether his heart and soul are really in it.

That is not Murray’s worry any more, for he has decided to surround himself with a group of people who, he says, will get the best from him. Miles Maclagan, Leon Smith and Louis Cayer are not household names as coaches but together with Andy Ireland, Jez Green and Matt Little, the fitness team, and Judy, mother and omnipresent influence, they form the first line of Murray’s defence against the outside world. And whatever anyone else thinks - the views of everyone bar the cloakroom attendant were sought by one newspaper during the Royal Albert Hall oldies event this month - is irrelevant. Tennis players are liable to change coaches as often as they change clothes; what pleases them at any given time is all that matters. Murray’s results will be the sole proof of whether the decision worked or not.

Tomorrow, his year starts against Olivier Rochus, of Belgium, in the first round of the Qatar Open. Expect excellent things from Murray because it is what he expects of himself.

For ranking protection, he needs to start well, for his first three months of 2007 were exceptional, reclaiming the San Jose title, reaching the final in Doha, the semi-finals in Memphis and those of the two spring Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami and losing to Rafael Nadal in five sets in the fourth round of the Australian Open. In Doha, where Jamie begins his new doubles partnership with Max Mirnyi, of Belarus, Andy will be indulging in a spot of doubles with Ross Hutchins, son of Paul, the LTA’s head of men’s tennis. Further proof that it is all in the family.

How the nation's No 1 fared:

Titles: 3

Prize-money: £898,488

● Made biggest jump of any player in the top 100 in 2005, climbing 449 ranking spots

● Was the first teenager to finish in the year-end top 100 since Buster Mottram in 1974

● Won his first ATP title in San Jose in February 2006

●Became youngest Briton to play a Davis Cup tie when he appeared against Israel in March 2005, aged 17 years, 293 days