Three years ago, in his final match as a professional, Alex Corretja lost to Feliciano Lopez, his fellow Spaniard. Today, in his first match as Andy Murray's clay-court mentor, the opponent will again be Feliciano Lopez. And, if the result should be the same, Corretja insists that it will not be the end of anyone's world.

Nine of Corretja's 17 career titles were won on red clay, he reached the final of the French Open twice, in 1998 and 2001, and was runner-up in Monte Carlo 11 years ago, to Marcelo Rios, of Chile. It is safe to say that the 34-year-old knows a thing or two about clay courts, as his 440 matches on the surface testify. Measured in such terms Murray, who has lost nine of his 13 outings on clay, is an innocent abroad.

We may be talking about a player who was ranked No8 in the world ten months ago and will sneak back into the top 20 today, but as far as clay is concerned, he has not won a tour match either here, in Rome or at the French Open, so Murray can look forward to a glut of ranking points if his partnership with Corretja pans out the way that his followers hope.

Except that Corretja, rightly, encourages caution. Nothing comes for free on this surface - “you can think you have hit 20 winners and still you have to play one more,” he said. And this is where he faces his greatest challenge with Murray, a self-confessed perfectionist, who believes that he ought to strike every ball from the optimum spot on the racket. If he does not, he tends to sink into surliness and that, as Corretja confirmed, simply will not work on clay, above all other surfaces.

“On clay, it is important to play matches,” Corretja said yesterday, “and you need to know you will suffer as well - that is the mindset. At the moment, all I want from Andy is that he concentrates all the time and fights 100 per cent.

“And it is not just about what you do on the court but off it, and Andy was working really hard last week in Barcelona, in the gym and on the court. He was doing track and field at 2o'clock in real heat because those are the conditions he will need to play in.

“From all I have seen, Andy is willing to do what needs to be done. And he learns so fast, he gets it right away. I don't know if it is that easy for him, but that is the way it seems. There is so much more to his game than most have, even Spanish clay-court players. But he needs to prove to himself that he can play on the surface.

“He is good, but he will be better. We don't need to rush him. Of course he wants to win this tournament, but he will have misunderstood if he believes that is the overriding importance. His goal should be to get better. He is still very young. He wants to be perfect, but you don't always have to be perfect to win. Even Rafael Nadal accepts that.”

The pair will have three tournaments to work things through, as the Spaniard has television commitments at the French Open. Murray, though, could not be happier, it seems. He was wearing a black cap yesterday, marked with Japanese lettering, which he disclosed were the initials of himself and Kim Sears, his girlfriend.

On the contrary, Brad Gilbert, the coach he dismissed, is fruitlessly attempting to steer Alex Bogdanovic's career into calmer waters. Bogdanovic has slid to No3 in the domestic rankings and could fall behind Josh Goodall to No4 if his results do not improve soon. Neither Gilbert nor the LTA, which is still paying his significant wages, had bargained for that.

Jamie Murray edged out in doubles

Jamie Murray narrowly missed out on his second doubles title of the year as the Scot and his stand-in partner, Kevin Ullyett, were beaten 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 by Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie in the final of the Estoril Open yesterday. Murray's regular partner, Max Mirnyi, with whom he won the title in Delray Beach in February, was on Davis Cup duty with Belarus but Ullyett, from Zimbabwe, proved a more than adequate replacement.

The pair did not get off to the best of starts as Coetzee and Moodie, the top seeds, broke Ullyett's serve twice in the first set. But a single break in the second set allowed Murray and Ullyett to force a deciding tie-break.