British No 1 Andy Murray continued his sublime form in Doha with a 6-4 4-6 6-2 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the Qatar Open.

Murray had lost to the Swiss No 2 in their previous two meetings but was not to be denied as he picked up his fourth career title, taking him up to No 9 in the world rankings, the first time he has returned to the top 10 since Wimbledon 2006.

“It’s good to win another title and it’s been great preparation for the Australian Open,” Murray said. “Stan played pretty good and made me do a lot of running. I don’t know how much longer I could have run for, but I am happy I came through.”

Murray began the match nervously and both players failed to hold serve in the opening three games of the first set. But with the score at 3-3, Murray broke the serve of the 22-year-old and then held his own to claim the set 6-4.

Wawrinka battled back to take the second set 6-4, but Murray quickly put that behind him to break Wawrinka’s serve in the first game of the third set and then held his own to take a 2-0 lead before going on to take it 6-2 and collect the £86,000 winner’s cheque.

Intense examination is not required to deduce that 2007 was the greatest test for Murray yet, both physically and mentally. He was tortured by the agonies of not being able to contest the French Open and Wimbledon because of the wrist injury that severed his year in two. But the greatest angst in the young Scot’s mind probably came from the fact that he was not totally in control of all decisions pertaining to his profession.

That problem has been alleviated, primarily by declaring financial independence from the Lawn Tennis Association and giving coaching liberty to the loquacious, assertive and at times overbearing Brad Gilbert. Those within British tennis are notoriously reluctant to cast judgment on their own but the consensus of opinion over Murray’s decision to part with Gilbert and take on Miles Maclagan as his main travelling coach, with an advisory team that also includes Canadian Louis Cayer, fellow Scot Leon Smith, fitness experts Matt Little, Jez Green and Andy Ireland with his mother, Judy, is all positive.

“Miles is just about as opposite as you can get from Brad,” said British Davis Cup captain John Lloyd. “He is quiet, reserved but most importantly you never feel there is an edge with him. He’s respected in the game and a good bloke. Miles knows what he’s talking about but doesn’t ram his opinions down your throat and only offers them when asked for.”

Lloyd, mindful that he will shortly be massing his young troops for an encounter of Rorke’s Drift-like proportions against Argentina in Buenos Aires, welcomes the chance for any form of optimism. “Those of us who have got to know Andy a little bit are well aware he is his own man and knows exactly what he wants to do when it comes to being on the tennis court,” continued Lloyd, who has sat on the courtside chair next to Murray throughout all of the Scot’s last six Davis Cup rubbers. “If on-court coaching is ever allowed on the men’s tour, I don’t for one moment think Andy will take the option. But he’s clearly far happier with the way things are right now than they were after he came back from the wrist injury.”

Don’t expect Murray to become everybody’s on-court best friend. The day he flunks a ball-toss and looks across the net to call “sorry mate” is the day the more pessimistic among us can realistically fancy our chances of the six national lottery numbers coming up.

Don’t expect an overabundance of on-court smiles from the 20-year-old or even him walking onto court with the pristine appearance of Stefan Edberg, who not only thought he was going to ultimately pick up the trophy but also dressed accordingly. Such things aren’t going to happen but the evidence of the newly formed Team Murray at the Qatar Open being able to aid preparations for the Australian Open which begins in Melbourne a week tomorrow could not be better.

Much of Murray’s form as he moved past a hugely experienced trio of early opponents was simply superb. He allowed the diminutive Belgian Olivier Rochus just two games, righted himself from an inexplicably bad first set to grind out former finalist Rainer Schuettler and was dominant against 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson. Of the seven sets played by Murray to reach the last four, three were won to love but probably his finest display came against top seed Nikolay Davydenko, a player he described as producing the best set of tennis he had ever faced at the 2006 US Open. That day, Murray enthused about the Russian’s ability to hit the ball on the run, and that ability shone for Murray as he won 6-4 6-3.

Another interested spectator has been Tim Henman, a regular sounding board for Murray and a contemporary of Maclagan. “It’s early days in the relationship but it does appear the two of them get along well,” said Henman. “I’ve known Miles since we were both 12 years old and he’s somebody who knows the game well and thinks deeply about it.”

Bill Knight, the Davis Cup captain who gave Maclagan his chance, said: “Injuries dicated Miles never had the success he merited as a player but another factor was that he seemed to enjoy the training and preparation more than the actual competition. That might have been frustrating during his playing days but augurs well for a coach.

“Miles is a good traveller, still hits the ball well in practice and although quiet, never allows himself to be pushed around by other people’s opinions. He’s stubborn but is not one of those coaches who want more than their share of the attention and see themselves as being as prominent as the player.”