THE chilled air was turned ghostly grey by the breath of dozens of children.

It was November in Scotland, the frost was lingering, the ground was sparkling with shards of ice and it was, of course, time for tennis.

Colin Fleming, the world-class doubles player, was embroiled in fending off smashes and volleys from the competitors in the McRea West End tournament who were at the Western Club in Hyndland both to receive their prizes and a masterclass from a professional. The 29-year-old, though, could have been forgiven for allowing his thoughts to stray back over a year when one of his best mates won Wimbledon and another was diagnosed with cancer.

These extremes of experience buffeted the player from Linlithgow against joy and despair. The bad news came in November last year when Ross Hutchins, Fleming's playing partner, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, just as the pair were about to pack their bags for another year on tour.

Fleming, encouraged by Hutchins, played on with a variety of partners and with a consequently inconsistent level of success but the desperate days of a year ago have been dissolved by the warmth of recovery and victory.

July was the blessed month. Hutchins announced he was in remission and Andy Murray, a playing partner of more than 20 years of Fleming, won Wimbledon.

Fleming shrugged off the shivers of a glacial West End yesterday to put the young players through their paces and reflect on the inspirational experiences of a year of extraordinary extremes. He has watched his partner come back from the depths and he taken strength from that both personally and professionally. Fleming now talks with that determination, soft in tone but steely hard in purpose, of fighting their way back up the rankings so that a place in the Barclays ATP World Tour finals next November is achieved. In 2012, they were the alternates, just missing out on a top-eight place.

The trek towards London starts in Australia but Fleming does not shrink from the task. "We are hugely ambitious and we want to win a grand slam," he said. "If that happened, then we would want to push on and be the world's No.1 doubles team. We have great one-off results that show we can play at the top level. There are immediate goals but the way Ross is playing there is no reason why we cannot aim for London next year."

The chill from the courts is replaced with that glow of optimism that comes from past results and from watching a mate win the biggest prize in tennis. Fleming played with Murray on the courts of Stirling University two decades ago. "He was only six or seven then," he says of the Wimbledon, former US Open and Olympic champion. "You knew he was going to be good, but nobody could predict how good.

"I remember playing with him in Central district matches on multi-games courts with lines for different sports. He was playing above his age group then and obviously had talent but 20 years later I am sitting on Centre Court commentating on him winning Wimbledon. What a journey."

Murray's straight-sets defeat of Novak Djokovic had an enduring lesson for his friend. "It was crazy watching someone you know winning Wimbledon but the reality is that the final was a culmination of all the work he has done. It is a huge inspiration to see someone you know compete at that level and to spend time with him at Davis Cup events and so on.

"You can learn from the way he has gone about getting to that level. It has not come about by accident. He is hugely talented, of course, but everything, absolutely everything he does is geared towards improving himself as a player. That is hugely inspirational."

Fleming travelled to London last night to practise with Hutchins before they spend a week training in Spain ahead of a competitive schedule that may include tournaments in Brisbane and Auckland before the first grand slam in Melbourne. The goal for the year is to finish the season in London at the World Tour finals as one of the top-eight doubles partnerships. It would be appropriate if Hutchins, a Londoner, gilded his recovery with a triumphant return to his home town. "What a story that would be," said Fleming.

But the Scot also has a more specific target in grand slams. Last week Judy Murray - who coached her sons, Andy and Jamie, and Fleming - was awarded an honorary degree at Stirling University, where all three boys trained and played.

"There is a photograph there of Andy, Jamie and myself as kids," said Fleming. "It is amazing to think we all came through and made tennis our professional career."

The Murray brothers, though, have both won Wimbledon titles, with the younger taking the men's singles and the elder lifting the mixed doubles with Jelena Jankovic in 2007. "I am the odd one out," Fleming said with a smile. "It's up to me to complete the set. No pressure, eh?"

It is a prospect so warming it almost thaws the courts on a November Sunday in Glasgow.