Years later, I asked Neil Radley if he remembered what it was that transformed Jez from a slightly dysfunctional individual to a highly driven one. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he remembered being impressed by his energy. "Even when he was bored," Neil told me, "it's like it was a really big issue!"

Faced with this same question, Gill Reynolds told me about the time when the first team were packing up after a match and Jez had taken a coin from his pocket and said, "Heads, we play one more set. Tails, we go down the pub!". As nobody had done the washing up, she had remonstrated with them and Jez had given her a look and had said "OK, if it lands on its edge, we'll do the washing up!". As far as she was concerned, the probability of Jez making a successful career in tennis at that stage was on a par with the washing up getting done. She figured he was just lucky to have benefited from the sobering influence of young Tracey. When I put this to Tracey herself, she simply shrugged her shoulders and said it was spooky. And what about Mike Reynolds? Well, he referred me to Jez's biography, according to which most of the credit goes to Mike Reynolds himself, for it was he who "channelled the young man's enthusiasm" and provided a structure of financial incentives, starting in the early days with the offer of "an extra chocolate muesli bar when he won his first league matches". Mike, incidentally, was credited as co-author of the biography.

Highly self-motivated people are not driven by external rewards, however. They are driven by the desire to achieve something beyond results, beyond rewards and even, in some cases, beyond the acclaim of their peers. I believe Jez was driven by a sense of destiny and a vision. It was a vision that transcended sporting achievement and was articulated by Jez himself only in the most understated way, "I just wanna make a difference, a big difference". He used to qualify this by saying, "Starting with Nathan!"

As Nathan progressed through ratings tournaments to county team and on to national and international junior circuits, observers were amazed at his progress and at the patience of his coach. Although he was talented and athletic and clearly magnetized by Jez, Nathan Austin sometimes adopted a difficult and contrary disposition and his education was sometimes no more than a trickle through a filter of distrust and dissent. But, as the old saying goes, even a turkey can fly in a high wind. And by the time Nathan was playing junior nationals as a sixteen-year-old, his coach was whipping up a gale.

Curiously enough, the wind was ferocious on the day of Nathan's U16 final at the Nottingham Tennis Centre, where we pick up the story again. Jez had booked a practise court for 8 o'clock, but the two of them arrived late.

"It's not my fault," explained Jez. "I'm a heavy sleeper!"

"Yeh. Like about twenty stone!" Nathan sniped.

"That's a terrible joke," said Jez, adjusting the ball basket. "You've been mixing with Mike Reynolds too much. Anyway, let's get on with it! Mark Knox will be here soon."

"Yeh? Who's he?" asked Nathan, as they started jogging round the court.

"He's the 'One-To-One' supremo. He wants to talk to me about taking an under-16 team to Australia."

"Cool! Will I be in it?"

"Show me you're good enough!"

As they went through their warm-up procedure, the trees swayed dramatically behind the courts and a chair slid a few feet onto the playing area. They were trading topspin groundstrokes when Mike and Gill Reynolds ambled over, accompanied by Mark Knox, an unprepossessing, stocky man in his fifties.

"Morning, Jeremy," he said, leafing through a copy of the day's programme. "Morning, young man. Breezy, isn't it? Right, let's put you through your paces!"

With that, he marched onto the court, ushered Jez to one side and fired balls at Nathan from the ball basket.

Jez joined Mike and Gill at the side of the court.

"Hi, you two!" he said. "What's he like?"

"Very nice man," said Gill.

"Fancies himself as a bit of a ladies' man," added Mike, rolling his eyes. "I tried to discuss the Australia trip with him, but all he wanted to do was pay Gill compliments!"

"He says I've got the skin of a twenty-year-old!" said Gill, fingering her cheek.

"Yeh, well, you ought to give it back now," said Jez. "You're getting it all wrinkled!"

He almost dodged the kick directed at him, but it caught him on the back of the leg and he yelled out, distracting Nathan who was in the process of executing a forehand. The ball flew off the frame and cleared the fence running along the far side of the court. It seemed to unsettle Nathan, who was already struggling to find his timing in the wind, and he threw his racket across the court. As he sauntered over to collect it, Mark Knox joined the others, leaning on the railings at the side of the court.

"Warm up your serves, Nathan!" called Jez. He and Mark Knox then exchanged observations about the boy's technique, when Nathan was suddenly confronted by an irate man wearing a waxed jacket, brandishing a tennis ball in his hand.

"Is this yours?" he demanded, and then continued without waiting for a reply, "Shall I tell you what you did when you carelessly hit this ball over that hedge? I assume you realise there's a busy road on the other side? It bounced off a lorry and a small child ran into the road to pick it up. I had to swerve to avoid hitting the child and hit a lamp-post. My car's a complete write-off!"

He stood for a moment, hands on hips, glaring at everybody in turn, "What are you going to do about it?"

Jez cleared his throat, thought for a moment and then replied, "I'm going to get him to change to an eastern grip, take slightly smaller steps and reduce his backswing."

The angry motorist swore loudly, span on his heels and walked off towards the reception, muttering threats of legal action.

Mr Knox turned to Jez and said, "You're very focused, aren't you? I like that. Very focused."