Murray is a prospect for British tennis

After her breakthrough at the Australian Open, where she reached the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career, Konta would end the summer as the first British woman since Jo Durie to enter the world top 10.

Gordon Reid, Jamie Murray, and Heather Watson all similarly enjoyed notable success in their respective careers the latter being crowned Mixed Doubles champion at Wimbledon alongside Henri Kontinen while Dan Evans and Kyle Edmunds made promising steps forward.

After the heady heights of 2016, British tennis finds itself looking forward to an uncertain future one that offers no real indicator of where the next champion will come from.

The 22-year-old has age on his side but has not come close to replicating the success of the Scot who, at the same age, had already reached a Grand Slam final and picked up two Masters titles along the way.

Watson’s Mixed Doubles success at Wimbledon in 2016 suggests a career away from singles competition might be better suited to her, while injury and bad luck have hampered the promise Laura Robson showed in her earlier days.

Konta represents Britain’s best hopes for success after Murray retires (Getty) With an absence of British players among the sport’s NextGen, it seems the summer of 2016 looks set to be consigned to the history books, unlikely to be revisited for years to come.

Life after Murray makes for even more bleak reading, and Britain can only hope that Konta steps up to the mark as the ‘people’s champion’ once the Scot hangs up his racket.