A DECADE has disappeared in a flash.

Is it really ten years since a brash Scottish kid called Andy Murray, clad in an oversize white T-shirt and baseball cap which made him look less like Fred Perry and more like Kevin the teenager, became an overnight success at SW19?

When his first appearance in the main draw arrived, a month after his 18th birthday, the statistics said that the Scot was the 312th best tennis player in the world. He had played just four senior matches in the tour previously, his first victory on the ATP Tour, against Santiago Ventura of Spain, arriving earlier that month at Queen's Club.

He was being coached, on a trial basis for now, by Mark Petchey, after a difference of opinion with Pato Alvarez, the elderly Spaniard who had been coaching him out at Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain. He stayed in a rented house in Wimbledon with his mum Judy, little suspecting that by the time the tournament was through he would be finding himself doorstepped by the national media.

The All England Club would become his home turf but his first act on this stage was a low key first round match against George Bastl, a qualifier from Switzerland, all played out on an eerily quiet Court No 2. The Swiss played with a ranking of 166 but had defeated Roger Federer, on this very same court, back in 2002. But it was all over in quick time, in the teenager's favour, by a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 scoreline.

"I don't remember loads about the match," Murray said last night. "I remember I played on Court 2 and I was the first match on the day and the crowd wasn't full at the beginning. It was quite quiet and it gradually built up as I got to the end. I remember feeling very comfortable and confident."

"I didn't know anything about him before we played, apart from the fact he was British," is how Bastl remembers it all. "He was very close to his family, his mum. She was very involved in his match and his career already, and she couldn't stop supporting him in his matches. It was quite some time ago now, but what I thought after the match was that, if Andy worked hard and didn't have any injuries, he could be among the best. I remember from the quality of his shots and his attitude that there was potential for something good."

Indeed there was. Momentum was building, and when Murray nonchalantly said his next match had to be played on a show court as it was against Radek Stepanek, the No 14 seed from the Czech Republic, he got his wish. In fact, the sense that this was an historic changing of the guard moment was only enhanced by the fact that he emerged onto Court No 1, just minutes after Tim Henman had lost to Dimitri Tursunov.

His 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory showed no signs of the 299 places between the pair in the world rankings, and even ended with a bit of niggle. The Czech had played to the galleries and kissed the net when a net cord helped him save two match points in the third set but Murray had the last laugh. "I was a bit annoyed at him at the end," said Murray. "He was trying to put me off and make me nervous but it didn't work and he ended up looking a bit stupid."

So, with Greg Rusedski also tumbling, by the end of that day the Scot was the last Brit standing. But what he hadn't bargained for was the new star in the tennis firmament sending the UK news media into a frenzy. "It was kind of everything that went with it which was extremely new to me," he recalled. "I had never experienced big press conferences, people following me home. After the second match, I went out to play mixed doubles and I couldn't get to the court. That was really weird for me because just a few weeks before, I was playing in front of five people. That is the kind of thing that sticks out for me when I think back then."

Now it was the turn of David Nalbandian, the 2002 runner-up, and his first competitive visit to Centre Court. Surely the Argentinian wasn't about to become his next victim?

Such an outcome seemed highly probable as Murray, playing with freedom and elan, roared away to a two-set lead, taking the first in a tie-break then the second 6-1.

The Scot was playing like a seasoned Grand Slam superstar. Unfortunately his body was that of an adolescent. With Nalbandian employing veteran smarts including numerous drop shots, his opponent began cramping up, his calves and hamstrings seemingly crying out whenever he had to stretch his legs.

By the end, the Argentinian had him where he wanted him. His tournament was over, defeated 7-6 (4), 6-1, 0-6, 4-6, 1-6. For the record, Murray exited at the same stage as young Serbian qualifier Novak Djokovic and had lasted longer than Rafa Nadal and Stan Wawrinka.

"I loved the matches on the court," recalled the Scot. "There was no pressure on the court. Zero. No expectation but off the court it was actually more hectic than it is now. Sometimes I have the odd cameraman or photographer or whatever following me around now but then it was worse.

"I didn't really read the press at that age," he added. "I had no expectations myself and I think it doesn't really matter what anyone else writes if you, in your heart, aren't putting any pressure or expectations on yourself. So I just went out there and played and enjoyed it."

Things are slightly different this time around. The Scot has no shortage of pressure as he bids to continue following in the footsteps of Fred Perry and become the first multiple male singles winner here since he claimed the title from 1934 through to 1936.

All the pressure will be on him when he makes his debut at this year's championships on Tuesday, against Mikhail Kukushkin, the World No 58 from Kazhakstan. Co-incidentally, he too has a female coach - his wife Anastasia Kukushkina - and he has played on Centre Court twice before. Murray, however, has been coming here for ten years now, and even has the run of the place as an All England Club member. Let's hope the next decade is as good, if not better, than the last one.