The question of whether Andy Murray will ever be a Grand Slam winner is a hard one to answer.

A sportsman's ability, how he grows as a player, and how he performs under pressure in the crucial business end of tournaments are all factors that can go towards deciding whether someone can win a Slam.

Obviously Murray still has lots of gaps in his game and will need to up his performances in order to win a major trophy, but he has potential, and for that reason I can definitely see him having a successful career.

'A Brit winning a Grand Slam and - whisper it quietly - Wimbledon is a touchy subject'


However, there are those whose opinions differ from mine. After beating Roger Federer in the first round of the Dubai Championship, the Swiss legend claimed that Murray's game hadn't changed significantly since their first meeting in the Thailand Open final all the way back in 2005.

Federer said: "He's going to have to grind very hard for the next few years if he keeps playing this way. He tends to wait a lot for the mistake of the opponent. He stands far behind on the court and that means you've got to do a lot of running.

"I gave him the mistakes today but I think overall, over a 15-year career, you want to look to win a point more often than for an opponent to miss. That's what served me well over the years but who knows, he might surprise us all and do it for 20 years."

This Swiss champion's analysis was obviously flecked with the bitterness of defeat, but if you peel back that layer you are left with some useful criticisms.

Murray's former coach, Mark Petchey, preferred to focus on the fact that the Scot's serve wasn't broken by Federer but did concede that he thinks the player will peak at 21 and that he will have trouble with his game plan of "grinding" down opposition.

Murray has spoken about his belief that he is more than capable of winning Grand Slams in his career. Talking after his four-set defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian he said:

"I think I've showed by winning four tournaments in the last few years that I've got the potential to challenge for Grand Slams in the future."

British tennis invested so much in Tim Henman and (to a lesser extent) Greg Rusedski that talk of a Brit winning a Grand Slam and - whisper it quietly - Wimbledon, is a touchy subject.

Build up someone's potential too much and you get accused of being a gung-ho optimist. Slam a player's chances and you aren't a true tennis patriot. Sitting on the fence is the best policy, and in this case has the added advantage of being the right policy too.

Who knows what Murray's future holds. That is precisely where the excitement lies with this 20-year-old star.