What were you doing at 5.24pm on Sunday 7 July 2013?

If you’re British, chances are you spent that minute with your heart pinned to a sun-drenched patch of 8mm perennial rye grass in south-west London.

It’s highly likely that initially your knuckles were white with tension, and you were holding your breath in a combination of excitement and anticipation – and perhaps just a little bit of dread, because three times already in the immediately preceding minutes you had held your breath in exactly the same way, only to exhale in disappointment. 

“Andy Murray did not know it, but this was his time,” I wrote that afternoon in a report published on this website.

“Sometimes very wonderful things do happen, and we spend most of our lives in the hope of them. At long last, never again would it be repeated ad nauseam that no Briton has won the men’s Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936. Destiny was at Murray’s shoulder, and this would be history.”

Moments later, Centre Court was torn apart by a roar like no other. In the same moment that countless fists clenched and were held aloft, Murray’s grip on his racket loosened and it fell from his nerveless hand to the turf. 

As millions leapt to their feet, the 26-year-old momentarily stumbled, unbalanced by the impact of a dream made real. And then he did what we all did: shouting a single word of affirmation over and over again.

Twelve months previously, Roger Federer broke Murray’s heart in the Scot’s first Wimbledon final and left him weeping. But in 2013, despite patchy form throughout The Championships – including the need to overcome a two-set deficit to Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-final – Murray saw off the world No.1 Novak Djokovic in magnificent fashion.

Whatever scoreline any of us had hoped for, rare was the soothsayer who foresaw the straight sets victory Murray delivered.

To be present that afternoon was a privilege beyond measure. But all of us were present, weren’t we? Millions and millions of us crowding the Centre Court stands, to witness magic unfold.

Three years later Murray would lift the golden Gentlemen’s trophy once more, gazing in wonder at the words inscribed upon it: “All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World.”

A decade down the line from that first win, the memories blaze as if it all happened a matter of hours ago. But with the passing of time, the focus has necessarily altered for this extraordinary competitor.

Career-threatening hip surgery means his recent re-entry into the world’s top 40 was the first time he had troubled that territory in five long years. Yet whatever the coming Fortnight brings, we need not steel ourselves to say farewell at The Championships 2023, according to the man himself.

"I have an idea of when I would like to finish and it's not this year's Wimbledon,” says Murray. “I definitely feel I can play for a couple more years."

So he will kick off his 15th career visit to SW19 with a splendid encounter against fellow Brit Ryan Peniston, ranked world No.267, with a possible second round face-off with No.5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to follow. 

At times like this, perhaps we might bear in mind the words offered by Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones, professor of archaeology and surely expert in tennis, in his latest big screen outing The Dial of Destiny, currently drumming up boffo box office in a cinema near you.

“I’ve come to believe it’s not so much what you believe,” advises Indy, “but how hard you believe it.” Words essential to the sporting psyche, we can surely agree.

According to the new film’s premise, the aforementioned Dial of Destiny is also known as the Antikythera Mechanism… a device that can turn back time. Andy Murray is on a similar quest.

The Scot is galloping in to Wimbledon again, albeit in tennis whites rather than leather jacket and battered fedora – but he’s still cracking the bullwhip in pursuit of a priceless treasure.

So hold on tight. If there is a parallel Wimbledon experience to subterranean booby-trapped dungeons and tuk-tuk chases through exotic bazaars, then Murray is the man to find it – and live to fight another day. If we close our eyes, we can still touch those memories of 7 July 2013.

There’s time yet for another thrilling adventure or several for Indiana Murray, before the titles roll.