Andy Murray- Britain's finest but with a point to prove at the US Open.

Andy Murray- Britain's finest but with a point to prove at the US Open.

Now that summer has more or less gone and autumnal shades begin to hover in the distance, sport finds itself back in one of its more genteel summer pursuits. You'd have thought that the tennis season had been and gone with the last crack of a winning forehand return at Wimbledon but you'd be wrong to think along those lines because tennis is still on the radar of British sport and very much the intriguing issue in the USA.

Because a certain Andy Murray, the two time Wimbledon champion, has some pretty important assignments on his mind and perhaps a point or several to prove. We all know that Murray won the gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012 and also captured the hearts of an adoring British audience when he swept to a conclusive, double dose of Wimbledon singles titles. But there is something missing in the Murray locker and it's hard to know whether he can identify it.

Sure, Murray is undoubtedly one of the greatest British tennis players in modern times and of course he is technically gifted, well adjusted and brilliantly resourceful particularly when the chips may be down or defeat may be imminent. But when he walks out to face Fernando Verdasco this evening at the US Open Murray may be tempted to look over a couple of worried shoulders and hope against hope that his recently chronic injury record may become a thing of the past.

You see the problem with Andy Murray is that although he is now officially the poster boy and heart throb idol for many a fluttering feminine hearts there are those who unfairly believe that Murray is just a walking disaster, horribly susceptible to all manner of injuries, both long and short term. And this is the problem. Of course Murray is by far and away the best tennis player Britain has ever produced but he does seem prone to bad backs and every conceivable strain, pull, debilitating pain or ache that keeps him out of action for much longer than seems possible.

In the old days of course Britain didn't really concern themselves overmuch with the welfare of our tennis players because there weren't that many to bother ourselves over. But this time Murray is the real thing, the genuine article and we should really wrap him up in cotton wool. This is no time for over reaction or panic but you fear that in the boiling heat of an American evening, something will be snapped or jolted out of place. Maybe, dare we say it, dehydration will set in and Murray will just flop to the ground, wiping copious sweat beads from his forehead and desperate for something cool.

Still, when Murray walks out this evening to face Verdasco it must be hoped that his thought processes will be fully functioning, concentration is at its sharpest and the physical troubles of recent times will melt away into a sultry American evening. We will hope that the Murray temperament and mindset will be focused, body and soul joined in perfect union and mum Judy will try to keep her feelings in check knowing all the time that her son is doing his utmost to win the US Open.

We all know now about the relationship between mum Judy and son Andy because mum Judy, while  understandably the gloating and boasting mum of a British tennis legend, does enjoy her own personal spot in the public limelight. A couple of years Judy appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing show winning a whole host of new admirers and quite a number of disbelieving souls into the bargain.

But now Andy and brother Jamie are still hogging all of the adulatory highlights and mum Judy may find that she might need to take more of a back seat rather than basking in her son's reflected glory. How can you keep leaping up and down with barely suppressed pleasure and joy while acutely aware that your son is just trying to make you enormously proud of you? Then she claps her hands wildly, cheering and whooping, naturally elated at her son's amazing achievements.

When Murray won his first Wimbledon title, son Andy did what most would have expected sons to do. He flung his hands into the air, looked to the blue Wimbledon skies in a state of shock and sheer incredulity but then jubilation followed. You know what it's like. You win your first Wimbledon title, you're British, your nation hasn't been able to acclaim a men's singles title at Wimbledon for decades  and there is a kind of delayed reaction because it hasn't hit you yet. But then you turn around and you found that's it happened. It's been well over 70 years now but if Fred Perry could do it back in the 1930s then so could Murray.

This year at Wimbledon there was no Andy Murray because injuries intervened and Murray found himself in a position that maybe he hadn't been acquainted with before. After winning Wimbledon again Murray was left twiddling his fingers, stretching out on a treatment table and wondering whether he'd ever hear those hysterically happy Wimbledon fans singing and chanting his name again.

Now though, at the US Open, Murray is back at the tennis coal face, swinging those shoulders, pumping himself up with those familiar growls and grunts of self criticism and just relieved to be back on a tennis court. He may have cause to reflect on a summer of frustration and emptiness, a sense that no longer could he remain out of the public's mind because Murray's considerable army of supporters have been waiting with teeth clenching anticipation.

Tonight at Flushing Meadows the Americans will have another chance to express their innermost feelings as British tennis stoops to conquer. Of course the Americans are just as patriotic as their British cousins from across the pond but perhaps this could be the ideal time for Andy Murray to give us a tantalising glimpse of the player he still is rather than the player who couldn't play because his body wouldn't let him.

Which brings us very neatly back to Judy, Andy Murray's mum. Of course she's protective and of course she's very nurturing and compassionate. You'd hardly expect anything else from a mother because that's what mums have always done. Judy will be there this evening rooting for her son, willing him on, inspiring, yelling her head off, always encouraging, always supportive, screaming and shrieking and then realising that perhaps such heartfelt emotions may have to be kept in check.

But of course Judy will be forgiven for getting ever so slightly over excited because sport is a something passionate, something very visceral, raw and tender. Tennis is very personal, something very dependent on that vital moment when points are won or lost by a thunderous ace, a booming backhand or forehand return or that feathery drop shot that droops over the net and wins the Wimbledon final.

The sight of Andy Murray celebrating a Wimbledon singles title by running up to where mum Judy was sitting remains an enduring memory. The image of Murray climbing into the family area and accidentally ignoring his mum is etched on the mind forever. Should son Andy beat Verdasco in the white heat of an American evening then most of us will raise a glass to the all conquering British hero who shrugged off injury, sneered at adversity and reminded us all that he was still there. You can hardly say fairer than that. Come on Andy!