FOR Andy Murray, small is obviously meaningful. The 18-year-old Scottish prodigy’s decision to up sticks from Octagon, one of the world’s three most powerful sports management companies, and move to Acegroup, a new and innovative kid on the block, is of immense significance.

The moment it became known that Murray was considering his options once his contract with Octagon expired at the end of this year, there was a rush to get to talk to a player rightly considered potential top-ten material. As The Times reported three weeks ago, Octagon feared that it might lose someone it nurtured from a raw prospect and sent Phil de Picciotto, its president of athletes and personalities, and Tom Ross, a vice-president, to London from the United States last week to attempt to dissuade him.

Murray listened to all parties, including IMG and SFX, the other two management heavyweights, and chose instead to place his future in the hands of a company based in London that prefers a lower profile and possesses a keener sense of an individual’s worth. It is believed that a meeting with Acegroup, scheduled to take an hour, lasted almost three, so entranced was the teenager with its plans for him.

The big boys will be kicking themselves, especially if the Scot extracts every bit of his promise to become one of the leading title challengers in the next five years. There was once a theory that an international operator such as IMG needed only to crook its finger and athletes would come running. Murray has shown that he is not averse to bucking trends.

At the heart of plans for Murray lies making the most of his personality as much as his performance, utilising his gift for communication with those of his own generation to spread the word that tennis in the 21st century is a powerful, athletic, dynamic sport, and that teenagers such as Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion from Spain, and Gaël Monfils, the brilliant Frenchman, can bring kids into it in their droves.

There is no shortage of companies that recognise the value of having Murray endorse their products. It is understood that one of the reasons he chose to leave Octagon was a belief that it did not drive the hardest of bargains.

Now it is Acegroup’s turn. Its twin forces are Bill Ryan, the quiet influence behind many of the deals that have underpinned Tim Henman’s status in tennis, and Patricio Apey, who has managed Gabriela Sabatini and Fernando González.