Advantage, Scotland: is tennis squandering the opportunity of a lifetime?

The teenager is making steady progress. After a successful junior career, last year she turned pro, and her global ranking in the 700s means she competes on the lowest tier of the women’s circuit, at events held in less-than-glamorous locations that offer experience and ranking points, but little glory – or prize money. It’s a tough and expensive business being a journeyman pro rather than a sporting superstar such as Murray or Serena Williams. But supported by high-performance coaching and funding from Tennis Scotland, the sport’s national body, she hopes to compete at their level one day.

“My aim is to break into the top 100, go out on the main tour and play grand slams,” says Lumsden, whose younger brother Ewen, 16, is also a promising player. “Everyone says these are the toughest times. My family has made a lot of financial sacrifices. If you can get through this and move on to bigger events then it gets better. But you have to be mentally strong.

“This is a 24/7 existence. You have to be really disciplined – the days are long and hard. Obviously I have a very different sort of life to most people my age, but I love it. The feeling of competing and winning is just amazing – that’s what keeps me going. And obviously Andy and Jamie Murray have been a real inspiration.”

The world of professional sport is unforgiving; despite the hard work there are no guarantees. The physical and mental qualities that elevate a player from promising to world-beating are difficult to quantify. The stars have to align in a very particular way to produce a player of Andy Murray’s quality; his two Wimbledon titles, two Olympic gold medals, US Open title and Davis Cup are extraordinary. The fact he is from Scotland, which has no history of professional success in tennis, is even more impressive.

Astonishingly, the stars in the Murray household aligned twice, of course. Thanks to Andy and his doubles champion brother Jamie, who last week won the US Open title following victory at the Australian Open earlier this year, the profile of tennis is higher than it has ever been.

Whether they will ever align in this way again is unknowable. But far more pressing questions vex many tennis aficionados, not least whether the sport – which has historically been perceived as the preserve of the upper middle classes – has a sustainable long-term future in the country.

This weekend at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, the city of their birth, the Murray brothers will lead Davis Cup holders Great Britain’s charge in a semi-final tie against Argentina. A proud Scottish crowd will cheer their heroes every step of the way.

But is this new enthusiasm being turned into the army of grassroots players and coaches needed to secure the game’s future in an era of increasing competition between sports? Once the Davis Cup is gone, will people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds be able to enjoy tennis all year round? Is the infrastructure in place to ensure future Andy or Jamie Murrays are supported?

In short, have the authorities in Scotland and UK created the right legacy – or indeed any sort of legacy at all – on the back of the Murrays' success?

The brothers appear less than impressed with the lack of progress. Following Britain’s Davis Cup win last year – which was orchestrated by Glaswegian team captain Leon Smith – both Andy and Jamie Murray were highly critical of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Tennis Scotland for failing to capitalise on their success at grassroots and junior level.

“It almost feels as if you waste your time because nothing ever gets done,” was Andy’s bleak assessment of the LTA.

Earlier he posted pictures on social media of the eerily empty elite tennis centre at Roehampton, just outside London. The £40 million centre was all but abandoned as a base in 2014, following the resignation of the LTA’s much-criticised chief executive of the time, Roger Draper. At the time, the Murray brothers' mother Judy said it would have been better to spend the money on 40 £1m mini tennis centres that could have introduced the game to thousands of youngsters. Such perceived waste is a serious bone of contention for many, especially those in Scotland.

Critics say progress has been slow here, too, and that many public facilities have been either sold off or poorly maintained by councils over the last 30 years. This picture is complicated by the expense and difficulty of building and sustaining new facilities in a country that is cold and wet for much of the year.

In common with golf, meanwhile, many private tennis clubs are struggling to attract members; modern families, after all, have more leisure opportunities to choose from than ever before, including "doorstep" sports such as running and cycling that are cheaper and easier to take up.

There are 255 places – private and public – to play tennis in Scotland, with some 53,000 members, according to Tennis Scotland – up from 31,000 in 2007 – but this doesn't include occasional pay-as-you-go players or those who play in parks.

But despite a seemingly growing appetite, no public indoor courts have been built for nine years. Swathes of the country – such as Fife – have no covered public facilities at all.

And though US and Australian Open champions now come from Scotland, the country has no outdoor hard courts – the surface both competitions are played on – and few of the clay courts talented juniors will need to learn to play on if they are to compete on the circuit.

There are some success stories, however. Glasgow has a thriving network of high-quality public courts, supported by the council, providing free and reasonably priced tuition, competitive and social play, with participation figures increasing by 135 per cent in the last three years to 71,500. Two big public indoor tennis centres allow play during winter.

But outside of cities, such facilities are rare.

Tennis Scotland has been criticised for a decade for dragging its heels, but with a 2015 turnover of just £1.7m – a drop in the ocean in terms of sports development – there are clearly no easy answers.

Funding is crucial. But despite Scotland’s contribution to the global success of British tennis, the LTA spent just £800,000 of its £63.5m budget here last year.

Surely if anybody knows how to grow grassroots tennis, it is Judy Murray. The 56-year-old has spent 25 years coaching not only her two sons, but players of all levels.

For the last three years she has travelled the country with her Tennis on the Road initiative – which is now funded by the LTA – training 3,500 adults to introduce tennis skills to children, and giving more than 4,000 youngsters the chance to try the sport.

Her commitment is clear but she fears opportunities will be missed if significant investment is not made in facilities and coaching.

“For me, Andy and Jamie’s long-term success will be defined by the legacy for the grassroots game in Scotland, otherwise they are just an anomaly,” she says. “We have such a small window to make this happen – it needs to happen now.”

She laments the closure of so many public courts, as well as a lack of opportunity for competitive play, adding that the breadth of coaching skills has also been decimated.

To reverse this, Murray has spent the last four years working on a plan for the multi-million pound Park of Keir tennis and golf development between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan. The hub would see indoor and outdoor courts, Scotland’s first six-hole golf course, mini golf, a tennis museum, adventure playground and cycle paths, incorporated with a hotel and 19 homes. The privately-funded development relies on income from the hotel and homes to fund the sporting facilities.

Many, including Tennis Scotland and the LTA, view such family-friendly, mixed sports hubs as the way forward. Murray plans to base herself there and train the next generation of coaches, referees and development officers.

The project has been controversial, however, facing strong opposition from residents who object to the use of greenbelt land. It has been rejected by Stirling Council and was last week subject to a hearing by Scottish Government reporters. Ministers will make the final decision.

Whatever the outcome, Murray is urging sporting authorities and councils to invest in grassroots tennis.

“What we need is a facility plan that has many more public outdoor courts and indoor centres in every city,” she says. “We also need to invest in a workforce from the grassroots all the way up. You don’t crack that quickly, it needs sustained investment. I also think we should streamline the governing bodies so there are fewer full-time positions, in favour of more part-time coaches all around the country.

“To make these things happen, Tennis Scotland will need more funding from the LTA.”

Tennis Scotland, meanwhile, believes things are changing for the better, but agrees that progress is linked to funding.

New chairman Blane Dodds, a former Scottish No2, says a new strategy is taking shape, which he hopes the Murrays will support, and, if ratified, could see 10 indoor facilities built over the next five years. Leon Smith has signed on as the organisation’s non-executive performance director, a move which was widely welcomed.

“We’re moving in a different direction from the past, we’re getting the right people involved,” Dodds says. “We’re working on a new facilities plan that will hopefully help us capitalise on the incredible success of Andy and Jamie. There are different recipes for success that include parks, pay-and-play facilities and private clubs, and we need to offer something to everyone, including competitive leagues and matches.”

The body funds free sessions in parks and schools and hosts more than 20 regional development groups. It also jointly funds, alongside local authorities, tennis development officers and provides coaching and funding to promising young players such as the Lumsdens. But big capital projects – like indoor courts – are more difficult.

“We are a small organisation, we don’t have tens of millions of pounds to build them," admits Dodds. "We have to bring in partners – the LTA, Sport Scotland, local authorities – to work with us. If we can’t do that now, with such excitement around tennis, it will never happen.”

The LTA says it is “comfortable” with its spend in Scotland, pointing out that it is above average for "comparable regions and nations" in the UK, and says the run of Davis Cup ties in Glasgow and the body’s funding of Judy Murray’s Tennis on the Road initiative shows commitment to Scotland.

Chief executive Michael Downey, who manages an annual turnover of £63m – much of it garnered from the success of Wimbledon – talks of the importance of partnerships. But he also talks of challenges; investment, the Canadian believes, must be carefully planned.

“Scotland is a very important part of British tennis,” he told me as he prepared to travel to Glasgow for this weekend’s Davis Cup tie. “Andy, Jamie and Judy are a unique package and we are very lucky to have them. What Judy does – training the ‘pied pipers’ – is vital.

“But we also need our investments and expansions to be sustainable. We can’t afford to make expensive mistakes. If we want to double our indoor courts in the UK, which will cost around £300m, we need to multiply that money, which means joining up with other sports, and finding other investors and sponsors.”

Creating a legacy, then, is clearly a complex and expensive business. Over the last 10 years, since Andy Murray entered the top 10, there has been much talk – too much, according to some.

But there has also been action. That much is clear at Queen's Park in Glasgow, home to a thriving community tennis club.

Much of the success of the club – which since April has delivered tennis to 2,500 adults and 1,500 children – is down to the commitment of volunteer secretary Mary McCabe, who spends the equivalent of a 40-hour week running, managing and promoting activities.

Aware that private tennis clubs can be expensive, the ethos at Queen's Park is to provide opportunities for all, regardless of age, ability, ethnic background or income. It even provides free racquets.

McCabe’s methods are clearly working. Since 2008 she has grown adult club membership from five to 65. Two hundred young players take part in competition. There are free and pay-as-you-go tuition sessions and social tennis for both adults and children, and – as in all Glasgow parks – the courts cost nothing to book.

Earlier this year, thanks to a £360,000 investment from Glasgow City Council and sports charity Active Places, the park’s six courts and dilapidated pavilion were refurbished. The council also provides free floodlighting.

“I knocked on doors for years and applied everywhere for funding,” says McCabe. “It was a bit soul destroying, but I never gave up and now we have these wonderful facilities and can offer tennis to everyone. That’s what we are all about.”

The next step, she hopes, will be funding to allow local primaries to use the courts during the school day, introducing hundreds of new players. You get the feeling Judy Murray would heartily approve of that approach.

“Andy Murray has been a huge part of the success of this club and these courts," adds McCabe. "My motivation comes from what he does. He inspires our players and our volunteers. We could be a model for other park sites. But the tennis authorities and local councils need to match our commitment.

“Andy won’t be around for ever – we need to make this happen now. We only have one real shot at this. It’s like a sudden-death deuce – the stakes are high. But if we get it right we'll all win – the sport will grow and grow.”