When an elite athlete requiring the difficult mix of touch and power loses control of even a small part of his game, the result is often irretrievable confusion – and that is where Murray finds himself.

Nick Faldo suffered similarly in golf; David Gower's delicate touch was often a thick edge from disaster; snooker players, even, can lose it and never get it back. The tinkering and grooving of a golf swing, certainly, are done from a comparatively stationary platform; and adjusting a cover drive or applying back spin to a cue ball do not involve the violent movement of chasing down a cross-court return and getting just the right weight and direction on the running response. Murray's margin of error is tiny.

The world No4 has the clay of Madrid and Rome on which to repair a game that has disintegrated beyond recognition since last year. He might yet play in Barcelona. He is determined not to panic.

"I don't think I'm running out of time, no," he insisted. "You gear yourself towards each grand slam, to peak for each of the four, where you want to be playing your best tennis. I achieved that in Australia.

"Since then it's not been particularly good but sport, especially tennis, can change from week to week. I went from playing some of the best tennis of my life in Australia to playing some really bad tennis in the space of a few weeks. That could change. I just need to keep working hard."

"At Indian Wells, the adrenaline wasn't there. Here I was happy. The adrenaline came back. I was nervous beforehand, which is good … then I played rubbish. I haven't played like that in a long time. The sooner I start winning again and going deep into tournaments, the better for me. But I can't get there if I play like that."

That's a stark choice for Britain's best tennis player in a generation. Not "getting there" is a pretty grim option.

Real target England's crown jewels

The Sun's Neil Custis and Rob Beasley claim Real Madrid are eyeing up England manager Fabio Capello and Wayne Rooney.

The Spanish giants will make a staggering £150MILLION raid for Rooney, offering Manchester United £90m for their prize asset and the player £250,000 a week for five years.

And they are determined to go back for highly-regarded ex-boss Capello after the World Cup.

Capello has managed Real twice before, winning La Liga on both occasions.

He is tied to England until 2012 but Real president Florentino Perez is no respecter of contracts.

Perez has a record of getting his man - as United will testify, losing David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid.

Rooney, 24, and in the form of his life with 34 goals this term, has still not committed to a new contract and has only two years left on his deal.

Real will tempt him with a five-year offer worth £60m, matching Ronaldo and way beyond United's strict wage structure.

Perez is driven by the thought of restoring Rooney's devastating partnership with Ronaldo - under the no-nonsense leadership Capello brings.

Capello has hinted he could leave England when his contract with expires.

The Italian said: "I like new situations. I won't close any door."

And the different tax laws in the two countries means United would have to find an extra 25 per cent on top of anything Real offer Rooney.

In this country he will be taxed at 50 per cent but a move to Spain will cost him just 25 per cent.