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You would think that, after winning six ATP titles this year, Andy Murray would at least be happy to be back on relative home territory as the season-ending Barclays ATP Tour Finals takes place at the O2 Arena in London this week. But sadly, no. Understandably, much of the attention has been on the Scot in the last few days – but has he managed to crack a smile? Not in any of the interviews I’ve seen, which is a pity as I’m pretty sure the myth about Scots been dour is just that – a myth. I was up in the Highlands in the summer and, all in all, most of the natives were a pretty jolly bunch. Maybe it’s tennis. After all, it must be pretty frustrating whacking a ball over a net for 10 months of the year only for somebody to whack it back. Come to think of it, you could hardly describe Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal as charismatic. That argument falls flat, however, when you recall greats of the past like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, who was what my dad would call ‘a bit of a character’. Character is what Murray will need if he’s to emerge unscathed from a tough group that includes world number one Roger Federer, US Open champion Juan Del Potro and Fernando Verdasco. The Scot (a general 4-1 to win the title) is a 13-8 chance with betfred to win Group A ahead of Federer (6-4 with the same firm). The Swiss superstar is 13-5 favourite with boylesports to win the final. Del Potro (12-1 with boylesports and sportingbet) is nursing an injury, however, which should ease the passage of the big two. But Group B is where the value may lie with Rafael Nadal (17-2 with boylesports) struggling to hit peak form after injury and Robin Soderling (a general 20-1) looking out of his depth. Nikolay Davydenko (11-1 with betfred and bet365) could therefore be the biggest threat to Novak Djokovic winning the section which means the Serbian is probably a decent bet at 11-8 with betfred, skybet and coral. Providing he’s recovered from his victory in last week’s Masters event in Paris, Djokovic should also be backed a general 11-4 to win the tournament itself.