Andy Murray produced tennis of such outstanding quality in his demolition of Andy Roddick on Saturday that the pre-Wimbledon spotlight swung back on him, whether the world number four liked it or not. Murray had briefly found himself overshadowed by another British player thanks to the exploits of journeyman James Ward on Friday, a welcome change for the Scot who is normally saddled with home hopes in the build-up to Wimbledon.
But his 6-3 6-1 thrashing three-times Wimbledon runner-up Roddick, about as emphatic statement of intent as they get, changed all that.
As Roddick succinctly put it on Saturday: "Everything he hit turned to gold."
Murray, beaten badly in two Australian Open finals and one U.S. Open final, will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday's Queen's Club final after the Frenchman ended wildcard Ward's remarkable week.
A repeat of the form he displayed against Roddick would almost certainly send Murray to Wimbledon as one of the hot favourites for the grass court grand slam.
"I was getting a bit jealous of all the attention he was getting," a tongue-in-cheek Murray said of fellow 24-year-old Ward who won two matches on Friday, including the scalp of defending champion Sam Querrey, as Murray got an unexpected day off.
"I had to put in a good performance today to try and get some of the spotlight back. I'm sure over the next four or five days the spotlight will be back on me going into Wimbledon."
That much can be guaranteed after the way he took apart one of the world's best grasscourt players.
Murray lost just nine points on serve and broke Roddick's famed delivery four times. What is more, the American did not even serve badly. At times Murray seemed to be able to pick his spot anywhere on the court, teasing Roddick with devilish slices and drop shots or just rifling winners off both wings.
If Murray wanted to keep a lid on the hype that usually explodes in Britain at this time of the year, this showing will have the complete opposite effect as bold predictions are made that he will end a 75-year wait for a men's grand slam champion.
With a worrying slump after losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final behind him, Murray appears relaxed.
"You don't get carried away with playing great tennis like today," he said. "It doesn't mean all of a sudden you're going to win every tournament. But it sends me the right message that I'm in the right place right now.
"Physically I feel good. My game's where it needs to be right now. Regardless of how the match goes tomorrow, it's been the perfect week in many ways. I'll use the next five or six days to get mentally and physically prepared for Wimbledon."
While journeyman Ward heads off to Eastbourne in search of more ranking points in his bid to crack the top 100, Murray was looking forward to some go-kart racing.
"Maybe I'll take it easy on court tomorrow so I'm fresh for that," he said. For fifth seed Tsonga's sake, he may well hope Murray was not joking.
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