For a year and a half, the world has been coming to terms with that much loathed notion of the “new normal” when what we have all yearned for is the “old normal”; the “normal normal”. 

We are not there yet but as Wimbledon prepares to open its doors and welcome back the throng, there is a little whiff of normality in the air. Andy Murray can certainly smell it – and he likes it. 

For the past four years, Murray has been trying to get back to normal. Admittedly, what he calls normal is a state of being beyond the wildest imagination of us mere mortals, but he wants it nonetheless. In 2017, he was the defending champion and the world No.1.

But as he limped out in the quarter-finals, beaten in five excruciating sets by Sam Querrey, his right hip was shot to pieces and it throbbed with pain. He had no idea what the future would hold.

Two bouts of surgery and a metal hip later, the Scot is back in SW19 and still he is not completely sure what the future holds. But what he does know is that on Monday he will be on court, in front of a crowd and doing his level best to get past Nicoloz Basilashvili and into the second round. 

“I'm most excited about being in front of a big crowd and the fans and everything,” he said, sounding as excited as his measured baritone would allow. “That's really something that I've missed a lot.

“Yes, I know it's not normal, but it feels somewhat normal now that we're a couple days out from Wimbledon, with all the players around and practising, everybody doing the media stuff today, knowing that in a couple of days' time we'll be playing not in front of a full crowd but in front of a lot of people.

“To me anyway, it feels like we're getting closer to more normality. I'm happy about that.”

That is where the normality ends, though. In the past, when he was chasing down Grand Slam titles, the days before a major championship were fraught. The nerves were jangling, the pressure was mounting – he knew it was part of the job but that did not make it any easier. Now, at 34 and launching his 13th campaign in SW19, he is loving it.

“I miss the pressure of that,” he said. “That's something I'm looking forward to feeling again. I think, like six, seven years ago, I didn't fear that pressure but it was something that I stressed quite a lot about. Whereas, actually, when I reflect on the last few years, it's something I've really missed: playing in front of a big crowd on Centre Court. That's what tennis players want to do.

“There's been times in my career when I've been anxious about that. Whereas right now, I'm looking forward to feeling that pressure. I'm not anxious about going out there to perform. I just want to go do it.”

Since his second round exit at Queen’s Club last week, Murray has been pacing himself through his preparations. The resurfaced hip is behaving itself nicely but it is the rest of his body that he has to keep happy.

He has had so many setbacks and problems since the hip operation at the start of 2019 that he is loath to push himself too far on the practice courts in case it jeopardises his chances in the competition proper. Not that it stopped him from putting Roger Federer through his paces on Friday, though.

“I've had some good practices with top players,” Murray said. “I would like to have done more. I would like to have practised more, but I'm also sort of trying to manage the physical side as well, which is very important. I want to go into Wimbledon feeling as fresh and as comfortable as possible.

“I would say the time I have spent on court has been good. Getting to play with Roger was really cool for me. They're the sort of things that probably, six, seven years ago I wouldn't have given any thought to. I would have seen that as just being a practice session pre-major with a top player, and focusing on myself. I think that's something that I'm probably appreciating more.

“When I take a step back from that, as a tennis fan, getting to play with Roger Federer two days before Wimbledon, it's really great. I haven't had the opportunity to do that sort of stuff much over the last few years. I enjoyed that.”

Practice may make perfect but it bears no comparison to real competition. Even so, Murray has taken a good deal of confidence from his work in the last few days – he may not have had the chance to compete against the big names in the last few years but he feels he has more than held his own with them as everyone prepares for Monday.

“For me, the way that I've been performing in my practices with top players, I'm not going out there and getting whacked,” he said. “I'm competing well with all of the players that I practised with.

“That's the really positive thing for me. That's one of the reasons why I'm sure that, if my body holds up, I can do well, can compete with these guys on the biggest stages.”

Now that sounds more normal; that sounds like Andy Murray two days away from the start of Wimbledon.