ROGER FEDERER headed off to be pampered at the best spa Bangkok has to offer before an overnight flight to Shanghai, where, today, he will be given the finest Chinese red-carpet treatment and officially open the venue where he defends his Masters title in November. Andy Murray prepared for the long journey home to Britain, his mother’s hope being that he will have treated himself to a business-class sleeper seat.

Before Shanghai’s three-year term as host to the Masters comes to an end, the dream of British tennis is that Murray makes the elite field of eight. His worthiness for a place in such exalted company is clear, for each week of the past five months has taken him to a new and more startling level.

His first tour match, first grand-slam appearance, first Davis Cup singles, first ATP quarter-final, semi-final, then final, first time inside the top 100, first top-to-toe clothing contract, first singles match against the best player in the world, first kiss from Miss Universe (she presented the bouquets in Bangkok yesterday, before anyone gets any ideas) and, if Judy, his mother, puts her foot down today, his first haircut for quite a while.

The climax to the Thailand Open at the Impact Arena yesterday was the expected straight-sets victory, 6-3, 7-5, for Federer, who won his 24th successive final and extended his win-loss record on hard courts to 66-1. Last weekend, after they had played Davis Cup doubles in Geneva, Murray told Federer that it was an honour to be on the same court.

When Murray whispered something into Federer’s ear as the players shook hands at the end, he may well have been saying: “You’ve not seen the last of me.” For that was the message of the match.

When he had to step it up, Federer did as the best will do. But there was an awful lot of stepping up in an hour and 26 minutes and the match might have been a good deal closer had the teenager not lost his opening service game in both sets. It is worth noting, though, that Federer was ranked No 64 in the world at the same age as Murray, who, when the new Indesit numbers are issued today, can expect to be about No 68. And Federer’s joy at victory yesterday seemed every bit as great as if he had won an event of much greater prestige.

Federer paid Murray rich tribute. “He was hanging tough in my service games and broke me at 6-3, 3-2, which I wasn’t expecting,” the Swiss, winner of six grand-slam titles, said. “I had to be careful not to let the momentum shift and at the end I had to play some tough points to stay in control and close it out. In finals you have to get a really good start, and I wanted to put pressure on him. I could have closed it out earlier today and it was a little disappointing to let him back in.

“Murray has a big repertoire of shots, there’s a lot of qualities. However, he’s got to figure out how he wants to use his potential. If he works hard he’ll be a good player. I was impressed by him. I wanted to keep the streak of final victories going and it is a lot of pressure, but I’ve been in this situation before so many times and I rely on all my experience to better myself. I’m not getting sick of winning, I’ve worked very hard to get to this point. There are many challenges out there.”

Murray, who looked disappointed to be the runner-up, said: “I started erratically. In my first service game I was up 40-15 and then lost it. When I won my second game (at 4-1 down), I relaxed more. You feel like you have to go for it against him and I was going for the lines too much. At five-all in the second (set), I lost the first point and then he went into control and ran off with it.

“I’ve never been to the quarters before, let alone a final. I’m still young, I’ll keep working on all my game and I hope it all comes together in a few years. Reaching the final will have an effect on my future. It gives me so much confidence when I’m only 18 and have so much to work on.”