JAMIE Murray’s eyes are very much on the prize at this year’s US Open as he defends his men’s doubles title and tries to back up his Wimbledon mixed doubles victory with Martina Hingis.

At 31, Murray is in his prime and when he looks around at many of his rivals, from the Bryan brothers, at 39, to Daniel Nestor, at 44, he probably feels like a youngster.

All being well, he has plenty of time left at the top but the Scot knows that when he eventually hangs up his racquets, he will have somewhere to give back some of what he has learned from life at the top of the game.

The decision to grant, in principle, approval for the building of the Park of Keir, a £37.5 million development in Dunblane, including 12 tennis courts, a six-hole golf course, a hotel and a “Murray Museum”, is designed to build on his and brother Andy’s achievements.

The centre has been a long-term dream of his mother, Judy, and a proud Jamie said he would hope to have a role in helping it to become a success once its built and once he’s called it a day.

“I don’t know exactly what [role],” he said at Flushing Meadows. “My tennis career is not going to be forever so I’d like to help my Mum make it as much of a success as possible.”

The plan had initially been rejected by Stirling Council amid local protests but an appeal to the Scottish government, supported by some celebrities, eventually resulted in last week’s decision, which was greeted with delight by Murray himself.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing for Scottish tennis and for the local community as well,” Murray said. “I’m really happy for my Mum that four-and-a-half years of work has gone into it and she finally gets rewarded for it.

“We went out for dinner to celebrate a little bit. She’s really happy, as she should be. It has always been her dream to have a base to work out of and I think it’s a perfect set-up for that.”

Andy, Jamie and Judy Murray have long insisted that Scotland was in danger of missing a golden chance to build on their combined success but Jamie stressed the importance his mother had played.

“I think they’ll do an amazing job with it and it’s a big step towards creating a legacy for not just what me and Andy have done in tennis but for what my Mum has done, with all the coaching and getting kids into tennis. She deserves it, for sure.”

Jamie dismissed the concerns of some opponents of the scheme, who feel the council should not build on what they call “Green belt”.

Indeed, of bigger concern to Murray might be the two ice bags he placed, one on each knee, after his first-round win alongside Bruno Soares against Alexander Peya and Julian Knowle on Friday. It is an issue that has been affecting him for much of the summer but has not affected his performances, with he and Soares easing through their opening-round match 6-4, 7-6 (8-6),

as they look to defend the title they won so convincingly 12 months ago.

“They’re alright, getting better,” he said. “It was worse after Wimbledon, there were a few weeks that were pretty rough but it’s been better the last couple of weeks. I had a couple of bad days last week but it seemed to get better. I’ve just got to stay on top of it and do the recovery.”

Though they have won three titles in 2017, their grand slam efforts have been disappointing, with a French Open quarter-final the standout effort compared to a first-round exit in Australia and a second-round defeat at Wimbledon.

The fourth seeds take on Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil in round two today and Murray said he felt they had been a little unlucky in some of the bigger events this year.

“Of course we could have done better but a lot of other teams could probably say that as well,” he said. “The last grand slam of the year, defending champions, we’ll try to do our best to win again.”