Martin Lee today set his sights on being part of Britain's tennis future with Andrew Murray.
The career of the 26-year-old left-hander from East Preston has been ravaged by injury for the past three years.
But he has just won the Nottingham Satellite, his first tour singles title since 1998, and is eager to show Murray there is more than one hot-shot climbing the rankings.
Lee has arguably a better junior record than Murray he was ranked No. 1 in the world and was a Wimbledon doubles champion while Murray has won the US Open.
In the seniors, though, Lee has a way to go to rival the teenage sensation from Dunblane, who has rocketed up the rankings from 407 to 67 this year.
Lee, in bullish mood, said: "It is great that Andrew Murray is doing so well while Tim Henman is on the way down but there's more to British tennis than Andrew Murray.
"There is no reason why Britain cannot have ten players in the top 100 and I am looking to be one of them."
Lee's 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 final win in Nottingham against Jamie Baker, another highlyrated teenage Briton, proves he can mix it with the new generation and re-establish himself.
He has reached a satellite final in Glasgow and three semi-finals at Sunderland, Oxford and Nottingham this year.
Lee said: "My first title after so long is a massive boost. I have been doing well and improving my ranking all year without going the whole way. I am delighted."
Before groin and knee problems put his career on hold, Lee was ranked No. 3 in Britain behind Henman and Greg Rusedski and was in Great Britain's Davis Cup team.
Since then, he has fallen on hard times and started this year with a world ranking of nearly 1,000 but is currently around 350. The beauty for Lee is that he is fully fit.
He said: "It is such a great feeling. Even when I got into the top 100 I was not 100 per cent fit, so I knew I could do even better.
"That thought has helped keep me going through the dark times.
"I know I am capable of getting back and who knows how much better I can get without physical problems. I am getting the odd hamstring twinge but the groin and knee are perfect.
"It is allowing me to do so much more on court. My speed and mobility is better which means I reach the ball quicker.
"My confidence is growing. My goal was to get inside the top 400 by the end of the year and I am delighted to be slightly ahead of schedule.
"I have an excellent platform and feel if I can get to about 270 in the rankings by next April I could start qualifying for the big tournaments."
Home comforts have helped revitalise his career.
Lee is now based at his parents' home in East Preston and is coached by his father Brian at Angmering.
He works out at the David Lloyd Club in Worthing.
He said: "I am getting in some decent hitting and keeping fit and relaxing in between tournaments. It was the right thing to do for my career and it is working out well."
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