The Scot, who takes on Lu Yen-Hsun, of Chinese Taipei, in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open today, knows the ins and outs of everything.
That includes the ramifications of winning the title here, which he feels would enhance his hopes of adding to the US Open title he won last September. Victory here would ensure he overtakes Roger Federer to assume the world No.2 spot, a boost to his morale but, more importantly, potentially easing his passage through the draw at the grand slams.
"The goal this week is to try and win the event but if I do get to No.2, it helps with seedings at the French Open and Wimbledon," said the Scot, who beat the Russian Evgeny Donskoy in his opening match. "Getting to No.2 is not a specific goal I set at the beginning of the year but it can help in grand slams and that would be the biggest benefit."
Being No.2 means he would be guaranteed to be in the opposite half of the draw to Novak Djokovic, who beat him in the Australian Open final and who is well clear at the top of the rankings.
Even if Murray was to win here, he would still trail Djokovic by a country mile and only by mopping up more Masters 1000 titles, like this one, and adding to his grand-slam tally, will he be able to close in on his goal of becoming world No.1.
"The Australian Open changed it a lot," Murray said. "If I had won that then he wouldn't have won a slam but [would] still [have] been by far the No 1. Everyone was complaining when [Caroline] Wozniacki was [women's] No.1 and hadn't won a slam; now Novak's won Australia the argument isn't that relevant.
"But in the last year or so, in the Masters 500s and the Masters 1000 series, he has set himself apart. In the slams it's been slightly different and that's why I wanted to put more emphasis on this period here because, in the past, I have gone into the clay-court season quite far behind on points because, despite doing well in Australia, I've not done well for a few months after that. That's why I want to play better here."
Murray's win over Evgeny Donskoy, a Russian ranked No.83 in the world but with a game good enough to be in the top 50, ensured he did not suffer the same fate as in 2011 and 2012, when he was beaten in his first match.
At 5-1 down in the first set, travel agents would have been on standby for more than a few fans and journalists but, though he lost the first set, the 25-year-old hit back well to win through 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and set up an encounter with Lu.
Lu beat Murray in their only previous meeting – the first round of the Beijing Olympics – and it remains one of the world No.3's most painful defeats. "I obviously lost that match and he's a tough player," Murray said.
"He plays very solidly from both sides and he's another guy that doesn't make any rash decisions on the court. He's very stable throughout the match. He plays at the same level most weeks and you need to play well to beat him."
Murray was also celebrating last night after he was won the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. The Scot saw off competition from the Brazilian footballer Neymar; Kerani James, who won the Olympic 400 metres gold medal in London; swimmers Yannick Agnel and Ye Shiwen; and the gymnastics gold medallist Gabby Douglas. "Anytime you're involved in any sort of award, it's obviously a nice thing," Murray said. "It took me a long time to get to the stage that I'm at just now."
An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter Scale hit the Indian Wells area yesterday, mild by Californian standards but strong enough to remind all concerned just how fragile life in this part of the world is. Many players were immediately on Twitter to express their surprise but no damage was reported and no-one was injured.
For Argentina's Leonardo Mayer, though, perhaps the quake was too much for his sore back as he pulled out of his scheduled match with Rafael Nadal.
It means that Nadal, in his first hard-court tournament in a almost a year, is just one win away from a potential match with Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
