There are few more competitive animals in world sport than Andy Murray and having decided to eschew rest in favour of maintaining momentum, it was no surprise to see the world No 3 extend his winning streak on clay to 10 matches yesterday.
Running off a little stiffness in his legs and ignoring some pain from a cut to his right thumb, Murray looked sharp and strong as he brushed aside Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Rome Masters.
After winning nine matches in 11 days for his first clay-court title in Munich and then in Madrid for his first Masters 1000 title - where he beat Rafael Nadal in the final - Murray spent a long time mulling the virtues or otherwise of playing in Rome.
A desire to spend a few days at home - with his new wife, Kim, before heading to Paris for the French Open - was uppermost in his thinking but his coach, Amelie Mauresmo, wanted him to play and in the end, she won out.
"The thumb is OK and my legs were a bit tired at the beginning (but) then started to feel better after the first few games," said Murray, who plays either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Belgium's David Goffin.
"I'm sure I would have coped fine (at Roland Garros) if I didn't play here but it's just good to get a match and to feel that [confidence]."
Murray's only moment of brief concern against world No 38 Chardy came when he stood at 2-3, 15-40 in the first set but three winners and an ace got him out of trouble.
A break in the next game, sealed at the net after a well-worked point, put him in control and from then on he was in total command.
In an ideal world, Murray would probably be out of here tomorrow, with a couple of matches under his belt at sea-level but with a weekend to rest before heading to Paris to get himself ready for the French Open.
Murray said he is not sure how his body might react to playing another four matches on consecutive days but plans to give himself every chance.
"I'll try to spend as much time recovering, resting, a lot of time with my physio and we'll see how I feel each day," he said.
"I played every match between 7pm and 1am in Madrid - so that's a huge change for your body clock - but so far I've competed very well in all of the matches, from start to finish. It's been good."
Coach Mauresmo looked delighted with her man's work and the former world No 1, who is due to have her first child in August, has given Murray the first indication that she definitely intends to return to work.
Jonas Bjorkman will lead Team Murray on the grass while Mauresmo will join them at Wimbledon, "providing she's OK to do that, which she will decide," Murray said.
"After Wimbledon, I'm not planning on seeing Amelie until hopefully she's ready - which she thinks will be around the time of the Paris Masters in November. That's the plan."
The other plan is to peak for the grand slams and for the first time, Murray really believes that he could go the distance in Paris.
"It's not impossible," he said. "Maybe in the last few years, even though I played some good tennis in Paris I didn't feel like I was maybe healthy enough, or had played enough matches or had enough big wins against top players to go in and believe that I could do it.
"But maybe this year will be different. I'll go in there thinking there's a chance. I certainly wouldn't expect to do it - that would be for me a massive turnaround. If I play well, I know I have the chance to go far in the tournament but we'll see in a few weeks."
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