There is one remaining spring tournament on Andy Murray’s preferred hard-court surface on this island idyll before thoughts turn to red clay, on which he played one full match last year and which, therefore, presents a marvellous opportunity for the British No 1 to make hay in the rankings. First things first.

Murray played above himself to reach the semi-finals of the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open, a painstaking process before his battered body gave up the ghost and he scratched a single game against Novak Djokovic, who went on to become champion and light a Serbian fire that has burnt bright since.

The Scot was ranked No 12 a year ago; today, on the verge of the 2008 edition, he is No 13, although the projections if he does not come up to scratch in the next 12 days are that he will fall outside the top 20, leaving him vulnerable to missing out on a seeding in Monte Carlo — the first of the three clay-court Masters Series events in April and May — and facing the unappetising prospect of a first-round match against the many red-clay titans who clog the draw there.

Thus, the 20-year-old knows that whatever showing he puts up here — he has a bye in the first round and will play Mario Ancic, of Croatia, or Gilles Simon, of France, in the second round — will have a huge bearing on his year. Every player ranked above Michael Llodra, the Frenchman who is No 38 in the world, can overtake Murray, who has 225 points to defend. Threats are everywhere and a first appearance in a Masters Series final would be invaluable protection.

Murray departed Indian Wells, California, in decent spirits. He played some remarkable tennis in the third round to dispose of Ivo Karlovic, the Croat — a performance more notable because Murray believes that the 6ft 10in (2.08m) giant is one of his three toughest opponents on the tour (he mentions Rafael Nadal, of Spain, and Arnaud Clément, of France, although, intriguingly, not Roger Federer, the world No 1 from Switzerland). His three-set defeat by Tommy Haas was an aggravation, made worse when the German withdrew because of a sinus problem before he was scheduled to face Federer in the quarter-finals.

“My game is a bit more complicated than some players’,” Murray said. “In the match against Karlovic, I showed how much I’ve improved my volleys and my serve-and-volleying. When I’m up at the net, I feel way, way more comfortable than I did last year. Against Jürgen Melzer in the first round, I won 19 out of 26 points at the net and didn’t miss any approaches, so that’s something that’s getting better. I didn’t do that enough for long enough against Haas. I’ve just got to learn from that and make sure the next time I’m in that position that I do that.”

Murray crossed paths with Brad Gilbert, his former coach, once on his way into the event, then again when packing his bags. The decision to place Gilbert with Alex Bogdanovic, the British No 2, for 12 weeks this year seemed a decent way for the LTA to receive a return on the final instalment of its investment in the American, but the fruit is taking a long time to ripen.

For the second successive Masters tournament, Bogdanovic lost in the first round of the qualifying event, this time 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to Viktor Troicki, of Serbia, another example of the left- hander’s inability to turn a decent position in a match into a victorious one.

Murray is happy with his situation after Gilbert, with Miles Maclagan, a veritable silent coaching partner. “The calmer your coach is the better because in tennis matches there are so many momentum shifts and you get really high when you’re winning and unbelievably low when you’re losing,” Murray said. “Miles is pretty calm and doesn’t get too fired up. I think that’s a good thing.”