Murray Gives Problem Ankle Full Court Session Ahead of Crunch Match With Clément

Even with both ankles in need of strapping, Andy Murray was today able to hit for the allotted hour and a half which he says is all his recently injured right joint can manage at the moment.

"It needs more of the treatment I gave it last week, icing and physio – I certainly hope I will be OK to play," Murray said.

This is good news both for Scots wanting to see their favorite son during next week's Davis Cup tie against Ukraine, and for those keen to see him become the highest-ranked British player of all time, which could happen soon.

One small step from four to three would take Murray above the highest ranking achieved by both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski. It is within the Scot's immediate ambit because he is only 550 points behind the No3, Novak Djokovic, whom he could meet in Saturday's final and who has many more ranking points to defend than he has at Indian Wells in a fortnight.

Murray practiced in the hottest part of the day, but later discovered that he is fortunate to take on Arnaud Clément, the former Australian Open finalist from France who has won both their previous meetings, not in the 100F heat of the afternoon here but in the evening.

Victory would set up Murray for a quarter-final with Richard Gasquet , who beat the eighth-seeded former world No1 Marat Safin 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 today. However the fluent – and confident-looking – Frenchman can be expected to pull out all the stops to avenge his noisily spectacular loss to Murray from two sets up at Wimbledon, the last time they played.