The minute Andy Murray strikes his first ball in a Masters Cup on Monday evening here, he will be richer by $350,000 (about £220,000), the bonus for finishing the year as the world No 4 and the first of the rewards that each player receives for competing in the season’s finale. It is no wonder he cannot keep a grin off his face.

Murray has won 24 of his past 28 matches on tour, so he is heavily into the mix to carry off the trophy that is the pride of the ATP, but it is symptomatic of understanding where he belongs that the British No 1 regarded Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal as a disappointment. Whoever wins in eight days’ time will do so without having to defeat the world No 1 and that takes the edge off for Murray.

Still, he would rather win the Masters Cup than not. Roger Federer, the world No 2, is attempting to become the third player, after Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl, to prevail for a fifth time. Murray and Federer are in the red group, along with Gilles Simon, the Frenchman who is Nadal’s replacement, and Andy Roddick, the American, whom Murray plays first.

This is Roddick’s sixth consecutive Masters, a statistic underlining his consistency since he broke his grand-slam title duck at the 2003 US Open, but he has been unable to repeat the experience. In an attempt to remedy that, the 26-year-old Nebraskan is preparing to name his new coach and the smart American money is on Paul Annacone, the head coach of men’s tennis at the LTA. If the offer is made, it would be tempting to Tim Henman’s former coach.

Shanghai schedule

Tomorrow: Gold group: N Djokovic v J M Del Potro; N Davydenko v J-W Tsonga.

Monday: Red group: R Federer v G Simon; A Murray v A Roddick.