He had a dream. And not just any old dream, either. As he booked out of his hotel, the Hyatt Grand Champions, yesterday, Andy Murray had a sense of his grand-slam tournament destiny, even if he could not quite recall where it was, who he was playing or who presented him with the prize.

The British No 1 was digesting the disappointment of his exit from the Pacific Life Open - a tournament blessed with the presence of the four form horses of the men's game, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and David Nalbandian - when he was asked what would be an acceptable performance at Wimbledon this year. Usually, sighing and shrugging their shoulders at the same time, players babble a few words, suggesting that it is far too early to presume what may happen three months hence.

But Murray let it slip that he could see himself lifting one of the sport's top trophies and that a couple of nights back he had dreamt that he was a grand-slam champion. “I kind of woke up and now I feel like I'm ready to go on and get deep into the slams,” he said. “God, I want to win it [Wimbledon].”

“I'm going to try my best to do that, but I know it's going to be difficult. There are certain things I'm going to have to do better if I'm going to do well at Wimbledon, but I've played well on grass before and because I missed it last year, there's more to look forward to.

“You never know in grand-slams. You can get some tough draws, like I got in Australia [Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, the eventual runner-up, in the first round], and sometimes the draws open up for you.”

One was tempted to suggest that such a scenario had presented itself to Murray here in an area known, presumptuously, as the Inland Empire. He had Tommy Haas, the 29-year-old German who may have passed the prime of his tennis life, rocking in the opening set of his fourth-round match and if only Murray he had been able to sustain his grip, he would be playing Federer in today's quarter-finals. That would have been a match to get all dreamy about.

Instead, Murray was flying out of California, a touch chastened after his 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 defeat, and heading for the next stop, the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, which starts next week. The emphasis there has to be to take the chances when they present themselves, not shy away from them, as was the case against Haas.

So much good happened for Murray this week, so much can get better. And that is not an illusion.