AS the ticker tape flew in the Flanders Expo Arena in Ghent 12 months ago this week, and his team-mates piled on top of him ever so slightly too enthusiastically, there was a feeling in some parts that things might never get any better for Andy Murray, or British tennis for that matter. Thankfully one man at least didn't share that feeling. A certain 29-year-old from Dunblane.

How wrong these people were. Instead, since then the Scot - and the wider sport on these islands - has an enjoyed an annus mirabilis. For Andy, this means a hugely productive professional period in his life which has harvested his second Wimbledon title, his second Olympic gold medal and the achievement to top them all, as he overhauled Novak Djokovic to end the year as the individual World No 1. Finishing runner up in the first two Grand Slams of the year, in Melbourne and Paris, now goes down as his bad patch. Things haven't been too bad in his personal life either, with the birth of his first child Sophia in February.

Until such times as he hangs up his racket for good, the younger Murray sibling will always be the poster boy for Scottish and British tennis but the remainder of the sport continues to truck along quite nicely in his slipstream. For Andy's brother Jamie, for instance, 2016 will go down as the year he won his first two Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and became the world's best doubles exponent. The new partnership which he was breaking in with Brazil's Bruno Soares as the calendar year began would be named the best in the world by its close.

It doesn't end there, though. Gordon Reid, of Helensburgh, would continue to give both Murray brothers a run for their money, his four Grand Slam titles in all this year including doing the Wimbledon double, before he added an Olympic singles gold medal just for good measure. Kyle Edmund, whose regular training blocks with Murray out in Miami have shown him the sacrifices which must be made to prosper in this sport, has more than halved his ranking from 102 to 45, while in the form of Jo Konta Britain even had a world top 10 female singles player to celebrate. Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has watched all this unfold in front of his eyes and can only express his admiration for the work all have put in and his hope that there could be even more to come in 2017.

"Obviously there was a really great end to 2015 but then, you know, it is back to individual goals for players," Smith told Herald Sport. "One of the brothers reaches the final and the other one wins it so that was a pretty unbelievable start to the year.

"Through Indian Wells and Miami there was quite a lot of talk about Andy at that point," he added. "But not only had he reached a slam final in Australia, he had had his first child and busted his gut for his country playing Davis Cup. Yes, he had a couple of weeks, a couple of tournaments when he really didn't perform but it is maybe similar to the way people have been viewing Djokovic's recent run. The scrutiny was too intense.

"Then the grass court season comes along and big news, Ivan [Lendl] is back. And it is a great fit. While Delgy [Jamie Delgado] has done a great job in there day to day and the form showed that, that must have been an amazing feeling for him, knowing it could pick him up even more."

From then, it was onto the 29-year-old's first extended winning run of the season, which encapsulated triumphs at Queen's Club, Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics. "As much as we can praise the mental strength it takes to reach Grand Slam finals you need that reward at the end of the day and there is no bigger reward than winning Wimbledon," added Smith. "To be flag bearer at the Olympics you could see how much that meant to him and you could see how he took it on, how much he interacted with the other athletes. He took time to talk to everybody, he knew every bloody result from every sport. You could see how he is going to be such a great leader in whatever he does after tennis."

The one constant throughout all this has been the Scot's continual sense of self-criticism and self-improvement, something which Jamie too has bought into hugely in recent seasons. In Andy's context this year, this means being bigger, braver and better on his second serve, hitting his forehand earlier from inside the court and perfecting his transitions to the net.

"What I find amazing, and I guess this is the same in most industries, is how much you have to put in to move from No 2 to No 1," said Smith. "You can go on an unbelievable run and go from No 100 or whatever but to go from two to one, it was 21 matches in a row at that level of the sport, just to move one place. The bit that takes you from 2 to 1 is being prepared to ask 'what do I need to do to make sure I get better?' I am hugely impressed about how he keeps developing his game and Jamie is the same when you watch him operate on court and off the court. He has really committed to everything he has to do to make himself the best.

"People used to attack Andy's second serve a lot more, although he could be attacked because his defence and his reactions are so good," the Davis Cup captain added. "But as much as some of it is technical I think a lot of it is intention. 'Am I going to go and hit it with more speed, am I prepared to risk take a bit more on it?' But now Andy isn't on the defensive so much, he is in neutral quite a lot and in a better position to work the points. And Amelie I think gave him a lot of confidence to come into the net. He was always a really good volleyer anyway but that transition game has really improved a lot."

Smith spend the turn of the year out in Florida, hoping to plot another bumper season for Scottish and British tennis. "Dan Evans is going to be at IMG in Bradenton, Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot are going to be at IMG at Boca, then you have got Andy and Kyle in Miami. You can imagine what his pre-season will be like. He will absolutely work his socks off and try to get better again. Now he is No 1 he has got to work out how to stay there and improve again. It never ends, never stops."