Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 20 March 2007 /

s into action in Miami boosted by a piece of welcome news. When he represents Britain in the Davis Cup against the Netherlands next month, his brother Jamie will also be in the team as a contender for a doubles spot.

It will be the first time that brothers have represented Britain since 1980 when John and David Lloyd played. And John Lloyd just happens to be Britain's captain these days. The Murray boys will team up with Tim Henman and Greg Rusdeski against the Dutch.

But to go with the good news there's a bit of bad news. If Murray is to enjoy another good run in Miami he will have to beat former Wimbledon and US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt in the third round. And that's a tough match so early in the tournament.

They have met just once before and Murray won on a third-set tie break in the San Jose final last year when the Scot claimed his first ATP title - a crown he has already defended successfully this year.

But for that match to happen Murray will have to beat the winner of the first-round clash between Americans Paul Goldstein and wild card Ryan Sweeting, while Hewitt must get past three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, who has been given a wild card following his return from injury, or a qualifier.

It is two years this week since Murray turned professional - yes, he was just 17 - but he reached semi-finals in low-key events in Italy and Spain in only his second and fourth tournaments.

In his first Wimbledon in 2005, Argentina's top ten player David Nalbandian needed five sets to get rid of the feisty newcomer in the third round.

Murray had started out ranked 419 but by the end of that Wimbledon he was up to 312. By October he had broken into the world's top 100 as well as notching a first win over Britain's former number one Henman.

In fact, Henman has won only the most recent of their four meetings as Murray now stands proudly at the top of the British rankings.

Since October 2005, it's fair to say 6ft 3in Murray has never looked back.

The next milestone arrived in September last year when, in reaching the last 16 at the US Open, he broke into the world's top 20 for the first time - and he has been there ever since.

A key figure in the final push towards the top ten is Brad Gilbert, the former mentor of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. He is the strong character Murray needed to smooth out the final rough edges and to channel a fiery temperament in the right direction. And since they teamed up last July the difference is there for all to see.

A final appearance in Doha in January, that epic last 16 duel with Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, victory in San Jose and consecutive semi-finals in Memphis and Indian Wells have ensured that he has remained on the up and up.

One more big performance and Murray will net the ranking points he needs to make the top ten.

It is, indeed, just a matter of time. And after that there will be no looking back for the man destined to be British number one for years to come.

He can dominate British tennis just like Henman has and on the world stage he could be well set to make an even bigger impact.

The tennis world waits....and so do British fans.

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