CHRISTMAS IS definitely in the air and there is a spirit of goodwill towards all men (the Chancellor of the Exchequer and all bankers aside, naturally). Even in the usually cut-throat world of men's tennis, a warm, fuzzy feeling is in evidence.
As Andy Murray settles into his winter training base in Miami, he is in a relaxed and convivial mood. The workload in front of him is fierce; the season ahead has the potential for a bitter battle at the top for ranking points and major prizes and yet Scotland's finest is still filled with bonhomie.

This year he has beaten Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and come, as he puts it, "effectively three sets away" from winning a grand slam title in the US Open final. Yet, as he shakes the jet lag from his legs and makes for the gym, he has no wish to shatter the reputations of the good and the great or to thrash them. These men are his peers, his workmates and his friends.

"If I'm being honest I get on really well with all of the players," he said, amiably. "Federer, when I see him, I'll have a chat to him – Nadal, Djokovic, (Andy] Roddick, all of them. Obviously when we get on court we're rivals, but I think the one thing that has been much better in tennis the last few years has been the sportsmanship. A lot of players are very complimentary about each other – the embracing at the end of matches because a lot of the tennis has been so good – I think that's something that tennis has got to be proud of over the last few years."

They are hardly the words of the battle-weary street fighters who held sway in the Seventies and Eighties and it is hard to imagine John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors exchanging pleasantries over the festive mince pies. But the sport has changed in the last five years and Federer and Nadal – two of the nicest champions you could hope to meet – are the velvet-gloved assassins: they smile, they sign autographs and then they crush all before them. And now Murray is one of their gang.

With five titles to his name in 2008, this has been Murray's most successful season to date – and probably the most successful season of any British man since Fred Perry – and he has established himself as one of the four contenders at the top of the rankings. Although he is 1,500 points behind Djokovic, the world No.3, and 3,000 points behind Nadal at No.1, there is plenty of clear blue water between Murray and the rest of the men in the top 10. He may show a great deal of respect to his betters, but Murray still knows his place in the pecking order.

"It depends how you look at it," Murray said. "Obviously in terms of ranking points I'm a long, long way behind them. But my results over those guys speak for themselves. I beat Djokovic a couple of times this year, Federer three times and also Nadal. So I can win against them, but if I'm going to be right in amongst them I need to play consistently well for the whole year rather than just right at the end."

In order to achieve that goal, Murray is putting himself through the training mill again this winter. Jez Green, one of his two fitness trainers, may be a friend but he is also a hard task-master and the weight training, 400m repetitions and 100m sprints will push Murray to his very limits. It is brutally hard work – so much so that not even the most outrageous line call can get him as worked up as the thought of another timed lap of the track or another set of sprints.

"I think the physical side of things has made such a huge difference," Murray said. "I find playing a tennis match much easier than I did before because the work off the court is much harder and the angry moments come out at the gym or on the running track rather than on the tennis court. That has made a big difference, especially in the long matches in the slams."

As he climbs the rankings and knocks on the door of the major championships, so the expectation grows. To those on the sidelines, the pressure seems unbearable but, to Murray, nothing has changed. These days, he may be older, fitter and wiser but the 21-year-old from Dunblane is the same ambitious soul he was when he first picked up a tennis racquet.

"I've always said I want to win a grand slam, so for me it's not as though there's any extra pressure, regardless of whether it was a few years ago or now," he said. "I've always wanted to try to do it. It gives me confidence that I'm closer now than I ever was. I can still improve on a lot of things and I believe that I can do it, whether it's next year or in the next two or three years."

All that does seem to have changed is the public's view of Murray. The few critical voices – usually those of the London-based media – are drowned out by the ever-growing band of supporters who follow his success around the globe. In China, he won over a raft of new fans during his week at the Masters Cup in Shanghai while at home he is the new poster boy for an unexpected group of admirers.

"I got some funny stuff in China," he said. "Some Chinese fans, they actually made a jigsaw puzzle of my face. I had to make it up and, no, thankfully, I didn't have to look at the picture on the box first.

"But I do get a lot of fan mail from older people, from 65 or 70-year-olds. It's surprising that I get so many from grannies and grandpas."

Quite what the All England Club will say about ladies of a certain age flinging their Damart double-knit thermals on to the hallowed Centre Court grass remains to be seen, but Murray's reputation as a serial winner is growing, so much so that he is one of the main attractions at the winner-takes-all $250,000 exhibition event in Abu Dhabi at the start of the New Year. From there he will head for Qatar for the defence of his Doha title before going on to Melbourne and the Australian Open.

In the Middle East he will rub shoulders again with his old pals Federer, Nadal and Roddick. But by the time the season begins in earnest on January 5, the Christmas spirit will have worn off and there will be no holds barred in 2009.