You might think that Tennis Scotland's "international player of the year" award would be a one-horse race, given Andy Murray's exploits, but in 2014 it went to a man who readily admits:

"I don't know if he knows who I am".

Gordon Reid is Scotland's leading wheelchair tennis player and earlier this month, he became the first man other than Murray to win the award, which began life in 2011.

It was a mark of respect for what the 23-year-old Reid has achieved and for wheelchair tennis itself, which this week is staging its season-ending finals, the NEC Wheelchair Masters, at London's Olympic Park. "I've been included in the short-list the last couple of years alongside Andy and Colin Fleming, Jamie Murray, people like that," said Reid, relaxing between matches in the players' lounge inside the Lee Valley Tennis and Hockey Centre in East London.

"It's a massive honour for me to be just named alongside them. The fact that I actually won it this year - I mean, fair enough Andy won Wimbledon last year, so we'll let him off for that - was really a proud moment for me."

World No.3 Reid is Britain's highest-ranked player and though he's left-handed, he possesses a game not unlike that of Murray, mixing his pace and spin to unsettle his opponents.

"I've met him a couple of times but I don't know if he knows who I am," said Reid, who after an opening-day defeat, yesterday kept alive his title hopes by winning his second round-robin match, beating Stephane Houdet 6-2, 6-2.

"I know Judy [Murray] really well because I train at Stirling and she comes there a lot and she comes to a lot of wheelchair events and supports us, tweets about us.

"I don't know Andy more than to say hello in passing. Obviously having someone with such a profile as him, such a well-respected athlete, obviously I'd love to do something with him to increase my profile and the profile of the sport at the same time. But those chances don't just fall into your hands."

A fine all-round talent as a youngster, Reid was forced into a wheelchair after contracting a rare spinal disease, Transverse Myelitis, when he was 12.

Like most of his rivals, Reid's story is one of dedication and the willingness and tenacity to overcome enormous hardship to play a sport to the highest level possible. As with all disability sport, wheelchair tennis struggles for air time on television and for column inches in print, a situation that is improving, but only slowly. The Paralympics, played in front of sold out crowds in 2012, boosted awareness but it lags way behind the able-bodied game when it comes to recognition and in particular, prize money.

While Murray won almost £2.5m in prize money alone in 2014, Reid won just under £35,000 in the year to this September. Should he win the title in London this weekend, he would take home £7200, before tax.

Without the support of Tennis Scotland, the Tennis Foundation and UK Sport, among others, Reid said he would not be able to play the sport professionally.

"It is incomparable to the ATP," Reid said. "There are only a couple of tournaments throughout the year where I would say it's good prize money. You have to be either winning tournaments or making the final of every single event you play throughout the year to cover your costs to get there, that's where we rely on funding and support."

Several high-profile names in the tennis world are lobbying on behalf of wheelchair tennis to get a slightly bigger share of the pot, enough to make it easier to earn a living.

Sven Groeneveld, the coach of Maria Sharapova and formerly the coach of wheelchair tennis superstar Esther Vergeer, believes Wimbledon and the other three grand slam events should divert some of the money the "legends" receive to wheelchair competitors. Reid agrees.

"The legends [at Wimbledon] get a minimum £25,000, £30,000 and they're guaranteed a large amount like that," said Reid, adding that Wimbledon is the only one of the slams not to have a wheelchair singles event.

"It's interesting because there are few players on the Tour who are quite good friends with ATP players. But number one, I don't think the ATP players are aware of how much we earn and number two, I'm not sure if they're really bothered about helping us.

"That's something we have to try to do on our own. The sport is still getting more professional and the standard is getting higher, so as that continues, more spectators come with that.

"It's great we can be involved in the grand slams, so we expose wheelchair tennis to tennis fans, not just people who stumble across it.

"Hopefully we can use that as a platform. The more the media get involved, the more it's showcased on TV, like the Paralympics were, that's where it's going to fly. It's up to us to put on a good show this week."