Perhaps there will be a time later in the year when minds will drift back to Andy Murray’s astonishing feats in a glorified warehouse in Ghent almost two months ago and everyone will agree that it was the moment that elevated his game to stratospheric levels, just as Novak Djokovic used Serbia’s Davis Cup triumph at the end of 2010 as the springboard for a remarkable 43-match unbeaten run which only ended when he ran into an inspired Roger Federer at the French Open. Djokovic was the holder of one grand slam title at the start of 2011, but he had three more by the end of it and defied expectations by usurping Rafael Nadal as the world No1.
Whether Great Britain winning the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years will have a similar effect on Murray is debatable given the hold Djokovic has over his rivals, but at least supporters of the theory can point to historical precedence and there would certainly be no harm in the Scot feeding off the brilliant memories of how he beat Belgium in the final, with a little help from his brother Jamie in the doubles.
Last year was one of wonderful consistency for Murray. He finished it as the world No2 for the first time, won his first two titles on clay after finding his feet on his least favourite surface and reached his first grand slam final since winning Wimbledon in 2013. He won four titles overall and there were plenty of reasons for the 28-year-old to be happy.
Murray, however, cannot have been entirely satisfied with his 2015 given that the major titles eluded him for the second consecutive year. Djokovic beat him in the Australian Open final and their French Open semi-final, Federer was too good in their Wimbledon semi-final and his tetchy defeat to Kevin Anderson in the fourth round of the US Open was a huge disappointment.
The challenge for Murray is to find a way of replicating his 2012-13 form in the biggest matches. He is seeking a new assistant coach after ending his short alliance with Jonas Bjorkman, but Amélie Mauresmo returned to his box for the start of the Australian Open, where Murray has been a beaten finalist on three occasions, after she gave birth to her first child in August.
Along with helping him with his tennis, Mauresmo will also be able to give Murray parental advice. His wife Kim is expected to have their first child in the middle of February and it will be interesting to see if Murray is present when Britain begin their Davis Cup defence against Japan on 4-6 March. No one will begrudge him if he decides to skip that tie.
Even if he does play, though, that could be the extent of his Davis Cup involvement. A potential quarter-final against either Serbia or Kazakhstan in July falls in between Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics, where he will be the defending champion in the singles.
Those concerns aside, Murray will be determined to achieve more than simply staying in the top four. He will approach the French Open with confidence after his impressive performances last year – his only defeat on clay came in that semi-final against Djokovic – and he knows how to win at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. However he has lost his past five matches against Federer and 10 of his past 11 against Djokovic, while he was defeated by Nadal and Stan Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals.
If Murray is going to add to his two grand slam titles, he must locate an extra gear when he gets to the last four. Easier said than done.
