They are the tennis equivalent of Kool and the Gang. Andy Murray's emergence as a true master of the sport in sweltering conditions that would have tested the patience of a saint was played out before an unlikely band of supporters who have brought a ready smile to his face. These really are changing, coruscating times.

The coach to whom Murray first turned to shape his professional life was commentating for British television, his second was courtside as the American TV equivalent of Private Eye's Phil Space, his third was the best man at a wedding, the Scot's his corner at his coronation as a Masters champion comprised his brother, a physiotherapist and the trainer on secondment from the Monte Carlo Tennis Academy.

As ever with the 21-year-old, it mattered less who was watching him, who had talked to him beforehand. What was going on inside his head made the difference. And the Murray of the midpoint of 2008 is the new world No6 of uncluttered thought processes, settled in the knowledge that he has a game that most players on the planet would kill for and extremely comfortable with where it can take him.

Perhaps the most telling comment of the many in the aftermath of Murray's 7-6, 7-6 victory over Novak Djokovic, the second-best player in the sport this year, came from the Serb. “It's difficult when you play against an opponent who plays a slower game,” he said, contrasting Murray's style with that of Rafael Nadal, the world No1-in-waiting, whom he had beaten the previous evening in the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati. “He [Murray] was making me make a lot of unforced errors. A lot of slices took away the pace to my forehand. I just lost my rhythm. I had some chances, but I couldn't take them and I could have played better.”

Most players who have encountered Murray on the road of discovery from junior potential to senior fulfilment will recognise the kernel of Djokovic's truth. To play Murray, one has to be ready to have one's game pulled apart and examined as if the opponent were a pathologist. Murray makes his opponents hurt and those ready to point to Djokovic's litany of errors as the crux of the final should acknowledge that Murray forced them out of him.

Sitting courtside, Brad Gilbert was in the perfect position to judge what was going on. What amazed him was how much fitter Murray was than Djokovic. Gilbert, with whom Murray spent an increasingly fractious 16 months - when knocking the British No1 into shape was of profound importance - was a lone voice before the final who said he felt that Murray would win, but was taken aback at what he saw. The interview he had to conduct on court after the Scot's breakthrough victory was one of the least comfortable of recent memory.

Back in Britain, Mark Petchey - the man who steered Murray through the first phase of his professional career - was waxing lyrical for Sky Sports and Miles Maclagan, the present coach, was best man at the wedding of Arvind Parmar, the former Britain Davis Cup player. The three-man back-up team in Cincinnati was Jamie, the brother with whom Andy strikes for gold in the Olympic Games doubles, Andy Ireland, his physio, and Jez Green, an eternally upbeat physical trainer. Everywhere Murray looked, faces were happy.

“Since I was 15, 16, maybe even younger than that, I travelled just with a coach the whole year,” Murray said. “I spent seven years with Leon Smith [now an LTA junior coach] and all of a sudden I'd just find myself getting angry, upset on court and arguing with him. Then I started working with Mark Petchey, who took me into the top 100. It started off great and after six, seven months I got tired again and he was getting upset and angry - the same thing with Brad [Gilbert].

“I found it very stressful but now I'm much more relaxed off the court and I'm going into each match with a clear mind rather than thinking about what's going on off-court. This year I've had three people with me every week - a coach, a physio and a fitness trainer - who get on very well and are very supportive, and I enjoy being around them. Whenever things off-court are in place, the tennis can really take care of itself.

“I had to steady myself against Djokovic because he hit some amazing shots on big points, but the top players do that and you need to understand that you're still in the match and in a better position than he is. I just tried to stay calm and make sure I stuck to my game plan and I managed to do that.”