Graphic: Serve and lolly - how Murray is putting his predecessors in the shade

The press were presented with a batch of mince pies with “AM” initialled in red icing and jolly splendid they were, too. A couple of years ago, a few of our number might have first checked to make sure nothing bitter had been slipped into the ingredients, but all is sweetness and light these days, especially the pastry. Andy Murray was at Wimbledon to say his farewells before slipping off to Florida for three weeks of intensive preparation for 2009 - the year in which wonderful things are possible.

For two hours he kept company with those licking at their pen nibs in expectation of writing something as juicy as the fare on the table in front of us, taking each inquiry in his stride with the self-assured purpose that decorated all he did on court and off from May onwards.

The British No1 has completed a period of his career when those who had demanded forbearance in his teenage angst years could look at his progress with enormous satisfaction. Never has one wanted the tennis limbo period to end so quickly, never has the anticipation to board the flight to Australia, before the jet lag from Shanghai has worn off, been so intense and never have the prospects for a British player at the herald of a new year appeared so bright.

It probably goes for Murray, too; although when he steps out in the intense heat of the Australian summer - there is an exclusive exhibition in Abu Dhabi and a tournament in Doha to complete en route - he hopes to be 5lb heavier, with an even greater reserve of physical strength so that he can push himself to levels that almost satisfied him at the tail end of 2008 but will not suffice, he knows, if he wants to expand his boundaries from the start of 2009.

The 21-year-old says that he does not eat badly - with the exception of the odd Big Mac when he hopes no one is looking - but that he has not taken nutrition as seriously as he should. Jez Green, who sets his conditioning programme at the start of the year, will be on Murray's case to behave ever more responsibly where diet and fluid intake is concerned. The world No4 is famously banana-unfriendly and recalls during Great Britain's Davis Cup tie against Austria at Wimbledon two months ago being fed a “really strong” juice concoction that he was assured would do him good. It is all about doing that one small thing, be it in his fitness regime or eating habits, that will give him a significant edge.

“I'm not a fitness trainer, so when I had been on my own at tournaments I didn't know what I should do and when I should be doing it,” he said. “At the start of the year, I hadn't been used to training in the middle of tournaments. I hadn't done it before, doing core stuff in the morning, and it takes time to get used to all of that.

“I needed, also, to feel I was going into tournaments feeling comfortable from the first match and there were times, most notably in Indian Wells and Miami in March, when I struggled with that. I needed to be able to take control early in matches and that is getting much better.”

What he wishes he could also control is the progress of the teenage Britons seeking to join him in the highest echelons. “Guys like Dan Evans, who is 18 and the third or fourth-highest of his age on the tour, which is a good sign, and I've practised with Marcus Willis, who I get on well with,” Murray said. “He's a little bit nuts, but I like that.

“In the men's game it is better than it was in terms of depth than when I was 18, but it doesn't matter how good they were as juniors, it's that next step, next year and the year after.

“I have watched some of their fitness programmes, I've had a word with Marcus about his weight - he is a little bit heavy for his age and he needed to sort that out - but all are very competitive, hard-working guys, which is a change from what it was.”

That judgment should satisfy the LTA councillors who congregate at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton today for a monthly meeting. What concerns them more are tales of extravagant bonuses paid to LTA employees and whether the senior officials should be called to account. Murray's views on that were not sought, but they might have been as tasty as the mince pies.