ANDY MURRAY, true to his reputation as a bit of a rebel, turned up late, received the accolade as the British player of the year while wearing trainers, eschewed the obligatory tie and lauded the coach who quit the establishment to throw in his lot with him.

As for the award, it is the first of many. As for clearly stating that he would not be where he is without the input and influence of Mark Petchey, who, this time six months ago, was in charge of men’s national training at the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), it was a none-too-gentle dig.

There are going to be few dull moments in the coming years if this first of Murray’s senior career is anything to go by. From No 407 to No 64 in the world rankings upon a surfeit of astonishing results — most notably at Challenger level and his first appearance in an ATP tour final in Bangkok against Roger Federer, the world No 1 — bravura performances and moments of physical collapse, the 18-year-old Scot’s emergence has been of unparalleled fascination.

Non-conformity is all part of the Murray cult and if there may have been some members of the Lawn Tennis Writers’ Association on Monday night whose bow-ties seemed to tighten at Murray’s open-necked appearance, it did not deflect the lad from telling it like it is.

“I owe all this to Mark [Petchey],” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without him. I’d also like to thank his wife for putting up with me around the house.”

Petchey’s decision to quit the security of a powerful position at the LTA and answer Murray’s call to work together was one of the bravest of the year and it is strange that there was no mention of a Coach of the Year Award, which normally commands a high profile. Giving it to so harsh a critic (who does not have one of its coaching badges) would have stuck in the LTA’s craw.

Kim Clijsters, the Belgian who broke her grand-slam duck at the US Open in September and climbed from No 133 in March to No 2 at the completion of the 2005 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, became the inaugural winner of the LTWA/Stella Artois international award, presented by Sue Barker, of the BBC.

Alan Mills, the retiring Wimbledon referee, collected the trophy for services to British tennis and pleaded with the media not to treat Murray as harshly as Tim Henman, who has often been a target for his “failure” to win the Wimbledon title. “Tim has never been a failure,” Mills said.