PILGRIM'S PROGRESS

After Andy Murray overcame Roger Federer in the semifinals of the Madrid Masters, the talk amongst the British press was not how the 21-year-old Scot had already surpassed Tim Henman in stature, but that he has now clearly upped his level to the point where he might equal Fred Perry, the last British male to win a Grand Slam title some 73 long years ago.

Murray then backed up that accolade in the final, dismissing the steady game of Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6 (6) after the rising Frenchman had upset world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the other semifinal.

The irascible Scot was brilliant most of the week, combing his usual sleight-of-hand tactics from the baseline with blowtorch serves and deep returns. He's always been a scrappy, confident sort, but physically, it has taken the gangly Murray a few years to grow into his body. He's added a lot of muscle to his thin frame and is happy to show it off, taking to flexing his biceps after wins.

But it takes more than just increased muscle to be able to best the likes of the world's top 3. It takes guile and technical proficiency. Murray now has a fair amount of both, and in the past three months, has scored a win over Djokovic in the Cincinnati final (his first Masters Series shield), hit through Nadal in the U.S. Open semis and then last weekend, avenged his tired-looking loss to Federer in the U.S. Open final by adeptly taking care of the big points.

"I always knew from the first moment I saw him in Bangkok (in 2005) that if he didn't screw it up, he'd be top 10 pretty soon," said Federer. "He's improved at his own pace. First he had to grow up a little bit, become a man; he's taken that step well and he seems much more relaxed on the court."

Murray is very much a perfectionist on court, a quality he shares with many other top players, but the three other elite players do not curse themselves at the top of their lungs when they miss an easy shot. They try not to show their vulnerability to their opponents. Murray has shown his dark side way too often in the past three years, but is learning that keeping his chin up and his temper at a medium boil — like Federer was talking about — is more beneficial. Former racket-tosser Federer learned that lesson himself.

"I didn't see Roger play a whole lot as a junior when he was coming up, when he was 18-19 and I heard that he was pretty temperamental," Murray said. "I'm not comparing myself to him and anything that he has achieved, but the way that we play the game is a little bit easier than how some of the players make it look. It's nice to see someone who was similar at the start of their career.

Being recognized for legitimate wins over Federer is not easy to do, but Murray's third win in Madrid was completely above board, as Federer came into the tournament healthy [Right! Federer still has mono.] and well rested. Two years ago when he scored his first upset of Federer In Cincinnati, the Swiss was tapped after having won Canada the week prior. Earlier this year in Dubai when Murray scored win No. 2, Federer was still suffering the after-effects of mononucleosis. But in Spain, there were no excuses on either side and the British No. 1 didn't allow the Swiss to attack his second serve or expose his forehand on the run. Amazingly, the teenager who used to kick in first serves consistently hit big-boy territory, nailing 14 aces, with two struck at 141 miles per hour.

Murray is already assured of his place at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup. With his title run in Madrid, he became the first British player in the Open Era to win four titles in a season.

He is still Slam-less, but has played better than Djokovic and Nadal (who with Federer's loss clinched the year-end top spot) since Wimbledon and now heads into the home stretch of the season with a chance to send up a couple of more warning shots to the other primetime Grand Slam contenders that he could be ready to make serious noise at the Australian Open in January.