Two years ago this week, Andy Murray was ranked No 70 in the world and 20 British players were inside the top 500 on the ATP Tour. Today, Murray is on the brink of a place in the Tennis Masters Cup extravaganza in Shanghai — a remarkable achievement given his litany of physical woes this year — and the domestic contingent has dwindled to eight, two of whom no longer play singles.

One star waxes; the rest wane. Murray is a man alone, as evidenced by the fact that only Alex Bogdanovic keeps him company in the top 200. Bogdanovic, Jamie Baker and Richard Bloomfield are playing at an ATP Challenger tournament in Kentucky this week; John Lloyd, Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain, who must pick one of those to play singles in the World Group first-round tie in Argentina next February, is here at the BNP Paribas Masters sampling the wellbeing of the Murrays, as Andy strives to secure one of the last two coveted places in Shanghai and joins Jamie, his elder brother, for a spot of doubles.

Murray Jr kept his part of the bargain yesterday, winning the St Petersburg Open, his second title of the season and third of his career, with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Fernando Verdasco, of Spain, arguably his most comfortable performance of the week. The timing could not have been better, nor have left the Masters Series event here — a tournament wrecked by withdrawals in recent years — in such a breathless state.

“It would really be ridiculous if I was to make it to Shanghai with all I’ve been through this year, especially the wrist injury which meant I missed almost three months, but if I have a couple of wins then I’m in a favourable position to make it,” the British No 1 said. “There are very few players in any sport who can say they are among the eight best in the world.

“The final today was pretty comfortable, the quarter-finals and the semi- finals were much tougher. He [Verdasco] made quite a few mistakes and I was able to capitalise on them. I’ll be giving it my best shot in Paris.”

The orders of play for tomorrow and Wednesday here are going to be among the most eagerly awaited in recent tournament history. There are six players within eight points of each other in pursuit of the eighth and last place for Shanghai, given that Fernando González, of Chile, this year’s Australian Open finalist, has a decent enough lead in seventh not to be unduly worried by his 0-5 match record at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy.

It will, therefore, matter enormously where each of those subsequent six, all of whom have first-round byes, are scheduled to play. With so little to choose between them, a win for, say, Tommy Haas in his opening match would require the other five (Tommy Robredo, James Blake, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet and Murray) to match that feat to keep their hopes alive.

Gasquet is not even certain of appearing after suffering knee pain during his loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Lyons last week. “Of course I want to [play] but I am a bit scared of the fan reaction if things go wrong,” Gasquet said. On the face of it, Haas, the German, in eighth place with a one-point lead over Robredo, of Spain — and three over Murray — has the easiest task. He plays a qualifier in the second round, whereas Murray awaits the outcome of the match between Jarkko Nieminen, the Finn who lost

in the final of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors to Roger Federer in Basel yesterday, and Juan Mónaco, an Argentinian enjoying his best season on the tour.

It was every bit as tight in the qualification process for next week’s Sony Ericsson WTA Championships in Madrid. Venus Williams, the Wimbledon champion, has withdrawn, saying that she has been advised to take a break after suffering dizzy spells at the US Open and during the autumn Asian circuit. Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, won the title in Linz, Austria, to move level in eighth place with Maria Sharapova, the Russian earning her place in the tournament thanks to Williams’s absence.

Pressure on as players court points in Paris

— There are two places remaining for the Masters Cup in Shanghai, China (Nov 11-18). The top eight players in 2007 qualify from points gathered on the ATP Tour and in the grand-slam tournaments. Six players are guaranteed their places: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer. Fernando González, of Chile, is in seventh place and will secure qualification if he reaches the quarter-finals in Paris. He can also do so if he reaches the round of 16, as long as Tommy Haas, Tommy Robredo, James Blake and Andy Murray do not win the title.

Points: 7, F González (Chile) 380pts; 8, T Haas (Ger) 329; 9, T Robredo (Sp) 328; 10, J Blake (US) 327; 11, A Murray (GB) 326 pts; 12, T Berdych (Cz Rep) 322; 13, R Gasquet (Fr) 321 pts; 14, C Moyà (Sp) 316; 15, I Ljubicic (Cro) 315.

Points on offer this week: To reach second round 7pts; third round 15; quarter-finals 25; semi-finals 45; final 70; champion 100.