IF Andy Murray can clamber over the top of a glowering 6ft 5in Milos Raonic, if he can then dismiss Roger Federer, the greatest indoor player in the history of tennis, then he may just glimpse the promised land of the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World tour finals in London.
Murray wants to be the second member of his family competing in England at the weekend as his mum continues her quest for the fifth major, formally known as Strictly Come Dancing.
But the 27-year-old Scot may already be looking towards next year and not just because his defeat to Kei Nishikori on Sunday has placed him in a difficult position in group B with almost certainly two victories required before the hotel booking can be maintained for the weekend.
Murray believes he can start 2015 anew with a foundation of restored fitness and the further development of his working partnership with Amelie Mauresmo, the coach who joined his team in the summer.
The Dunblane player fought his way into the tour finals with a strong finish to the year, winning three tournaments. But he pointed out that he had not felt "good" until the French Open after starting the year in staccato form after his back surgery in 2013.
"Look, I did not l know what to expect this year," he said. "At the beginning of the year, I was finding it very tough because I was thinking that I just had the surgery on my back and it will be fine and I will start playing great straight away. But that was not the case. It was tough, it was quite a long process. It took a while to accept that but once I did then it is a lot easier to train, to prepare, to deal with it mentally."
He added: "For me, it definitely took four or five months before I started feeling good again. The last few months have been very, very important for me to finish the year by winning tournaments, by competing against the best players. That was very important for me just to get that reassurance that my body is good, my back is fine and I will be good to go next year at 100% from January. Next year, hopefully, I will start the year strong."
The improved fitness and belief in his body, bolstered by arduous struggles against such as Tommy Robredo and David Ferrer, has now been complemented by his deepening working relationship with his coach.
Mauresmo and Murray have already talked about "tweaks" to his game that should be implemented before the Australian Open in Melbourne in January. There is work to be done on the consistency of his first serve and the potency and effectiveness of his second. Mauresmo, too, has been a strong advocate of Murray playing more instinctively, more aggressively.
On the road to winning two grand slams and an Olympic gold, Murray has been helped by a list of coaches, the most notable being Mauresmo's predecessor, Ivan Lendl. He believes that Mauresmo, also a grand slam winner, can have a similar effect on his career.
"My experience is that coaching relationships have taken four or five months before I start to feel the benefits and I think that next year I will really see the things I have been working on and hopefully put them into practice and on to the match court," he said.
Murray now faces Raonic, who was blown away by a rampant Federer on Sunday but who has enjoyed his best year on tour.
"The best part of his game is the serve. He does not return as well as maybe Kei does so hopefully I can get a few points on my serve. If I can serve better that will help, regardless of whether it is against Milos or Roger," said Murray.
The Scot has to improve from the disappointing loss to Nishikori but he has the capability to do so. He has still to find a level of consistency and the Canadian holds a 3-1 head-to- head record against Murray.
In his column for the BBC, Murray yesterday addressed another tournament. It may not pay out more than $2m to the winner but it does involve a Murray, Judy of that ilk. Her son, though, is not quite ready to follow in her footsteps as she prepares for another weekend on Strictly Come Dancing.
Murray said: "I can't say it's inspired me to get on my dancing shoes and I wouldn't have thought you'll see me appearing on Strictly in the future - but you never know." It may, though, be safer to bet on a more sure-footed Murray on the courts rather than on the dance floor in 2015.
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