GORDON Reid appears at Ibrox so regularly he might be mistaken for a member of the groundstaff. Scotland's new wheelchair Grand Slam singles champion only arrived back from Australia on Tuesday night but having shrugged off the jetlag to perform a veritable media blitz yesterday, he is expected to make his second lap of honour of the season during the club's William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round tie against Kilmarnock on Saturday. The boyhood Rangers fan made acquaintance with manager Mark Warburton and selected first-team players when touring around he ground on the opening day of the season in the immediate aftermath of claiming the first of his two Grand Slam doubles titles at Roland Garros.

It isn't just Rangers players and management who have been passing on their well wishes in recent days. The likes of first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Alex Salmond, Lynsey Sharp and Tom Daley have all been in touch, as Reid has celebrated what seems to be a genuine crossover into sport's mainstream. "I have never known anything like this," said Reid. "It is just great that people are interested in our sport."

You can multiply that interest by whatever number you choose were this humble 24-year-old, born in Alexandria and brought up in Helensburgh, to continue his year by winning the first-ever Wimbledon wheelchair singles title and then bring home a double gold medal haul from the Rio Olympics.

"Obviously I am not going to put those kind of expectations on myself, because as soon as you start telling everybody what you are going to win and when you are going to win it, and you don't, it obviously becomes a lot worse. It is great to have this title in the bag and I will stick with the same formula to try to get more than that."

Typically for a successful sportsman, one title is never enough. Despite his singles breakthrough, clinched 7-6, 6-4 against Belgium's Joachim Gerard, his Antipodean adventure ended with he and doubles partner Shingo Kunieda blowing a 5-0 final set lead to lose 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to French pairing Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer. But by then, his back and biceps were screaming out.

As you might expect, the great and good of Scottish tennis were the first to pass on their congratulations. On court immediately before Jamie Murray won his maiden major men's doubles title in the company of new Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, both Murray brothers spent the hours leading up to it watching his match on the locker room television. Leon Smith watched the whole thing courtside.

"Even when I was sorting my bags out, I could hear Jamie and Andy with Louis Cayer and some other ATP tour players, just discussing wheelchair tennis and talking about the match and stuff," said Reid. "It is just incredible those guys are so interested in us. The more we can get of that the better."

In truth, the more you hear about this 24-year-old, it is incredible more people aren't interested in him. Reid was already well on the way to a career in sport when transverse myelitis, a disease affecting the spinal cord, took hold at the age of 13. People say you must love your chosen sport to be a success in it; Reid is the example par excellence. He actually feels lucky that he is able to spend each day doing something that he loves.

"I used to play football, tennis, do cross country running, some athletics, a bit of badminton, a bit of everything really," said Reid. "I guess that is why I love wheelchair tennis that much, because it gave me the opportunity to get back healthy again. It has given me so many opportunities in life. I am really lucky that I get to do something that I love every day.

"I have always said, go out and try as many sports as you can find, because I know how much sport has helped me mentally, physically, everything," he added. "It would be a real shame if other people didn't have that opportunity because they weren't aware of it or didn't want to try it. Just give it a go and you might sort of surprise yourself."

After his stop-over in Govan, Reid jets out for Rotterdam next week, where he will play alongside the able-bodied players, but not Andy Murray, who is at his pregnant wife Kim's side, at the ABN-AMRO tournament. It is a tournament model which is becoming more regular on the tour, but having hit only briefly in practice with any of the leading lights of the able-bodied sport, Reid jokes that perhaps he could partner the Scottish World No 2 in a mixed doubles event in Davis Cup action, or alternatively challenge an able-bodied player to a one-off exhibition match.

"Maybe mixed doubles, one up, one down," said Reid. "Britain could be a force to reckoned with I think. Also, while I have hit with a few of the guys, I have never found someone to have a match with. I reckon that might be something there could be interest in."