As Andy Murray prepared to suffer the excruciating sensations of a last ice-bath of the 2008 competitive calendar, a way of taking his mind off the imminent agony was to focus on the riches that now unquestionably lie within his grasp in the new year.

Even supermen come up short now and again. So the fact that ultimately even Murray’s enormous supplies of physical resources were found wanting in his attempt to maintain an impossible schedule to beat Nikolay Davydenko and go on to win the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai today cannot undermine the growing belief that the 21-year-old Scot is very much the next Grand Slam champion in waiting.

Quite simply he now possesses every attribute necessary to become the first British male winner of a major prize since Fred Perry surveyed the vista of the West Side Country Club in Forest Hills, New York, with the US Championships trophy in his hand 72 years ago.

Murray doesn’t just perform with the great man’s laurel leaves on his chest; he shares the same single-minded drive and lust for triumph.

Rather than Murray wasting any time on wondering what he might perhaps have done wrong in the Qi Zhong stadium, the team who will next year stage this event under its new name of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena should be pondering on what they could do right. They must revise the timetable to prevent the inequity of one competitor returning to court for one of the year’s most important matches after scarcely 20 hours of rest and recuperation while his opponent had more than two full days.

The handicap dealt to Murray after so magnificently overcoming Roger Federer in a three-hour-plus classic is something that must be negated. In years or even months gone by Murray might have carped about the unfairness but such is his new maturity that he refused to denigrate Davydenko’s 7-5 6-2 win that ended the Scot’s hopes of finishing the tournament unbeaten and with a cheque for $1.34m.

Instead he must head home with his bank balance bolstered by just $400,000 and said: “Naturally I was going to be tired, I played a long match last night. Davydenko played a lot better than me. I just hope I play a lot better in London next year.” Lesser players might have had second thoughts after being so insistent with the last sentence. Only the world’s top eight players qualify to play this calendar ending event but Murray does not even allow a nano-second of negative thought as to whether he will be among that select band.

Murray’s lust for improvement currently knows no bounds. Of course he will spend a couple of weeks taking things easy but, by the time ornaments are being hung on Christmas trees, he will be back at work to ensure 2009 even surpasses his achievements of this year. He has cemented himself in the game’s elite, risen from 11th to fourth in the world rankings, won five ATP titles including two at Masters Series level in Cincinnati and Madrid, reached his first Grand Slam final and amassed well in excess of $3m in prize money. But most importantly he has registered victories over each of his main rivals for the major titles next year: Rafael Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic.

With his team of coach Miles Maclagan, fitness trainer Matt Little, conditioning coach Jez Green and physiotherapist Andy Ireland, he will spend another physically profitable few weeks toiling in the Floridi-an heat before heading to the Middle East well before Hogmanay to begin 2009 on January 1 in the exclusive company of Nadal, Federer, Davydenko, Andy Roddick and James Blake at the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

Davydenko is rarely verbose when speaking in English but his assessment of his good fortune was as accurate as some of the punishing forehands he continually fired at a flagging Scot throughout the 98 minutes of the semi-final. “I was lucky Murray beat Federer yesterday,” he said. “He wanted to show he was the best player by beating Federer so maybe he was really tired.”

There is something of the torturer in the way Davydenko delights in wearing down his opponent and he undeniably played on Murray’s fatigue in the initial stages. The Russian made sure that for every yard of the court he covered, Murray had to run three as he worked his gasping opponent from side to side. The fact that the previous night Murray’s courtesy car driver got lost in the characterless roads of Shanghai’s suburbia and deposited his weary passenger back at his hotel even later than planned all aided the Davydenko cause.

For the first set at least, Murray offered stoic resistance, immediately negating a first break of serve against him and doing all he could to maintain service statistics that had been nothing short of exemplary throughout the round robin stages. Sadly the second set was a different story, Murray’s fatigue was worsening with each point and defiance simply ebbed away as Davydenko won the concluding five games at a loss of only nine points.

They are statistics that should be stored away immediately and promptly forgotten. Had Murray had similar time to recharge his battery as that afforded his opponent, things would most certainly have been very different.

Djokovic eyes $1.2m payday

Novak Djokovic intends to give 2008 a symmetrical and lucrative look when he faces Nikolay Davydenko today in Shanghai. The Serb began the year by winning the Australian Open and could end it $1.24m richer by adding the Tennis Masters Cup.

The world No 3 will be looking to repeat Thursday’s round-robin stage win over Davydenko in the final but is not eligible to collect the maximum prize haul of $1.34m as he lost a group match to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. “I didn’t have such a great last couple of months of the season and have not won a title since winning in Rome back in May,” admitted Djokovic.

HOW MURRAY SHAPES UP FOR 2009
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
(Jan 19-Feb 1) Murray’s game is suited to the new hard-court surface and his exemplary physical conditioning means he shouldn't struggle with the Melbourne heat. Odds 7/2
2008Lost 1st rd to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Ranked No 38)

FRENCH OPEN
(May 25-Jun 7) Britons dislike clay, even Murray, who learnt his trade in Barcelona. He is talented enough to think quarter-finals but expectations of anything more are grossly optimistic. Needs greater patience than he showed this year. Odds 20/1 2008Lost 3rd rd to Nicolas Almagro (No 20)

WIMBLEDON
(Jun 22-Jul 5) Only the weight of public expectation seems to be holding Murray back. His experiences this year, with that gallant fourth-round fightback against Richard Gasquet, should convince him the pluses of home support far outweigh the negatives. Add his beefed-up serve, sublime volleying skills, pace around the court and ability to hit winners from anywhere and he is a front-line title contender. Odds 5/1
2008Lost quarter-final to Rafael Nadal (No 2)

US OPEN
(Aug 31-Sep 13) Murray is never happier than in New York, his confidence on the Flushing Meadows cement dating back to the junior title in 2004. Reaching the final this year was the greatest learning experience of his career. He now knows he can beat anyone. In his opinion this is the prime site for his first major title and he’s probably right. Odds 4/1.
2008Lost final to Roger Federer (No 2)

Odds supplied by Ladbrokes

The important thing now is that 2009 beckons brightly and those who have long lamented the lack of a British Grand Slam male champion can hardly wait. No wonder he is only 11/8 with Ladbrokes to win a Grand Slam next year.

Bjorn Borg peerless in Paris, Caught In Time, p23