At the start of this week, 20 players were still in with a mathematical shout of laying claim to one of the final three spots for the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai next month for which the first three – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – were guaranteed before the first leaf of autumn fell. This morning, Andy Murray remains one of those salivating few.

Murray’s 6-2, 6-4 victory over Lukas Dlouhy, of the Czech Republic, which guaranteed him a place in the quarter-finals of the St Petersburg Open, was enough to bolster his hopes, so emphatically endorsed in the first three months of the year and now, suddenly, revived again in the autumn. It is very much nip and tuck.

After his success over the world No 138 – a victory that had to be eked out like so many at the time of year when legs and minds are in turmoil – Murray will face Dmitry Tursunov, of Russia, a formidable foe at any time.

It is always problematic to look beyond the next opponent but the fact that Nikolay Davydenko, the No 1 seed, who might have been Murray’s semi-final opponent, bowed out 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 yesterday to Marin Cilic, of Croatia, gives more optimism to the crystal ball-gazers.

It is supposed that the British No 1, who started the week at No 18 in the ATP Race, the yearly form guide on which places in the Masters Cup are determined, and is now 48 points behind eighth place, needed to win the St Petersburg title to keep his hopes alive.

As things stand, he has one further event, the BNP Paribas Masters at Paris Bercy next week, to accumulate the necessary points.

But, with so many people vying for so few lucrative spots, it is likely to be one of the hardest-fought events of the year.

Federer has not played the tournament for the past three years, indeed since he lost to Tim Henman in the quarter-finals in 2003. In his corner this time, as The Times revealed last week, will be Johan De Beer, the South African physiotherapist who may be tempted to stay with Federer on a more extensive basis but is also believed to be attracted by a significant offer to work for the LTA in its medical department.

Attempting to cash in on the present hype, the ATP launches its latest marketing blitz to play on the emotions of those who may watch the sport intermittently but do not have a real passion for what is at its heart.

A couple of years ago, the mantra was “New Balls Please”. In 2008 and beyond, the message will be “Feel It”, by which the ATP seeks to promote the finest athletes in the world; Murray, for one, will be pictured with flames licking from the back of one of his trademark double-fisted backhands. “Sometimes when you watch tennis on TV you don’t understand the intensity that the players are playing with,” he said. “I like to think that when I hit the ball, there’s a bit of fire coming off.”