On the warmest day of the week on the Côte d'Azur, Andy Murray was not the only man left feeling hot under the collar. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian, David Ferrer and, last but no means least, Novak Djokovic placed clear red dirt between themselves and those who aspire to longevity as top-ten players and the thrill of mastering one of the Masters.

Murray, who lost 6-0, 6-4 to Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, came off marginally better than Tommy Robredo, who took a single game from Nalbandian, matched Janko Tipsarevic's four against Ferrer, one fewer than Juan Carlos Ferrero sneaked against Nadal, and paled in comparison with Gaël Monfils, who Federer allowed a full seven games.

There was a definitive stamping of authority upon these famed courts yesterday. Murray knew it, everyone in the grounds could feel it. The ambitions of the British No1 are grand, but as he attempts to piece together his first significant stretch of matches on clay, the strength of the fields in this status of championship denotes that anyone who does not produce their

A game every day will probably come a cropper.

That was Murray's problem yesterday. Djokovic did not take kindly to forfeiting his Sony Ericsson Open title in the first round in Key Biscayne, Florida, last month and has worked feverishly on clay in the principality where he has made his home.

He is thriving on the challenge of making himself as formidable a foe on the surface as he is on hard courts. “It's not my favourite, but I want to make it so,” he said. “You have to approach clay in a different way, but my game is aggressive and that's where I will earn the most benefits.”

Murray's game is more passive, one that relies on wearing down the aggressor until he runs out of patience and punches himself out. To succeed, you have to land your blows early in the fray and the six points Murray had to hold his first service, once lost, meant that he was immediately chasing the game. The Serb was hitting everything so decisively deep, changing the course of rallies with such a clear head and clean hitting, that Murray must have felt his task was as steep as the hills that overhang this beautiful venue.

He struck only 12 winners, completed the match with two double faults and must decide whether extra work in Barcelona next week will help or hinder with such an exhaustive programme ahead.

At least he has some tennis to look forward to. Jamie Baker, his compatriot, was recently struck down by a virus that required him to spend three days in intensive care in Florida and leaves him with “a chance, but no more than that” of recovering to play at Wimbledon in June.