COLIN FLEMING wasn’t sure what to expect when he agreed to team up with Andy Murray in the doubles at the 2013 Montreal Masters.

Murray had recently claimed the first of his two Wimbledon singles titles, but only that morning he had crashed out of the singles in a shock upset to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

Fleming, who has known his fellow Scot a long time, half wondered whether his pal would have preferred to be on the next flight to Cincinnati for the next Masters event but it didn’t take long for him to be dis-abused of that notion.

“He just lit up the court like I’d never seen anyone in my entire life,” said Fleming, speaking ahead of his participation in this weekend’s Brodies Tennis Invitational event at Gleneagles. “I just had to do my wee bit, play in my corner. He was serving bombs, returning ridiculously well. So, if he’s loose, look out.”

The Scots ultimately made it all the way to the final and the episode makes for an interesting case study as Scotland’s 32-year-old superstar prepares to make his competitive return at this week’s Fever-Tree Championship at Queen’s Club after career-threatening hip resurfacing surgery in January.

Today’s draw could throw up a rare Murray match-up with big brother and doubles specialist Jamie teaming up with new partner Neal Skupski and Andy partnering Feliciano Lopez.

All going well, Andy plans to play Wimbledon too, although he will leave it until the 11th hour to confirm a partner. With the brothers having decided not to pair up on a permanent basis as Andy builds to a full singles return, Fleming thinks both will be in contention for their maiden SW19 men’s doubles titles.

“Ross [Hutchins] and I played Andy and Jamie once, at Indian Wells,” said Fleming. “No, we didn’t beat them. We had a match point, so I think we lost 11-9 in the match tie-break. It was first round, as well, so it was a shame. But Andy is a great doubles partner, even when he was at the very top of singles, which is where we hope he’ll get back to. Any time he walked on the doubles court, he gave 110 per cent to win.

“Apart from his amazing skills, he just gets it, the whole team vibe. He’s played quite a lot of doubles over his career. It’s been interesting to see how he’s developed as a doubles player over the years. He’s now so effective. It will be a dangerous partnership, that’s for sure, him and Lopez. I wouldn’t want to be facing them.

“As for Wimbledon, let’s see, he might not even play yet. He’s said he hopes he can play but he doesn’t want to let anyone down, so that will decide who he plays with. But we know how good he can be. So he’s certainly a dark horse.”

The main question regarding Andy is what is likely to be feasible for him when he returns to singles play, most likely after the US Open.

“It will all depend,” said Fleming. “First of all, he’s pain free, which is amazing for him as a person. If he’s able to get back the movement he had before, he will climb the rankings. Even with his injury, he was still able to be competitive. If he can move the way he did, he can fly up the rankings. It’s just fingers crossed he can get that movement back, because the strokes are still there.’’

One Scot who could be in line for a singles spot at Wimbledon is Bearsden’s Maia Lumsden. Fleming, who works closely with the 21-year-old following his time based at the University of Stirling as Tennis Scotland national coach, spent four days with the former junior Orange Bowl winner in Nottingham this week. Lumsden achieved her first WTA win there, before going out in straight sets to highly-rated Frenchwoman

Caroline Garcia.

“Maia is on a good upward trend, she has been the last couple of years, ever since she started at Stirling University,” said Fleming. “To play a main draw WTA and win a match there is great. She got a qualifying wild card into Wimbledon last year and she will certainly be in the discussion for a main draw wild card this year. It won’t have done her any harm to win in the main draw at Nottingham, but ultimately it will be up to the LTA and the All England club.

“Maia was a phenomenal young junior and did well at 16s and 18s as well but everyone is on their own journey. I think Maia’s game is building towards playing at a higher level although like every player there is still work to be done. Mentally, it is about accelerating the process of believing that she belongs at that higher level and this week will have helped. Things can happen quite quickly. Once you feel like you belong at a certain level you can start winning matches.”