Andy Murray's competitive year may be over. The 19-year-old has never before played so many tournaments in one year, and has entered uncharted physical and mental territory. Certainly he implied that this Masters series event might be the end of his first full ATP Tour season.

"I'll just have to wait and see what I decide to do the next couple of weeks because I don't want to push myself mentally if I don't need to," he said. "I'm not sure what there is to gain from the next couple of tournaments."

Because he cannot qualify for next month's Masters Cup in Shanghai, Murray is considering missing Basle and the Paris Masters. "It's been a good month/bad month good month/bad month year, apart from after Wimbledon time where I kind of had a two-month stretch where I played really well," he said. "So I'm probably looking at matches in particular. Obviously winning against I think maybe five guys who are either No1 or have been No1, it kind of shows me inside what I can do."

This is a modest assessment compared with that of Ivan Ljubicic, the world No3, whom Murray beat on Wednesday. "He's a top player now," said the Croat. "He's capable of winning big titles. A grand slam is a possibility, I think. And Wimbledon - well, why not?"

The suggestion that his body will never be strong enough to survive a grand slam was present in his 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 defeat from a set and a break up against Novak Djokovic on Thursday night. The priority may now be, after 25 tournaments, to have a rest and get cracking with his coach Brad Gilbert's long-term plan for his strength and stamina, which will involve a long spell with the trainer Mark Grabow near Gilbert's home in California.

Tim Henman's calculations are similar. He too will miss the Paris Masters and, though he will play in Basle, he is thinking how best to capitalise on his late run of form with rest and rehabilitation. A ranking in the 30s as a result of his exploits here will not flatter him, and wonderful performances against David Nalbandián, David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco suggest the 32-year-old is ending the 2006 Tour playing as well as Murray.

To read the full article go to: http://sport.guardian.co.uk/tennis/story/0,,1927939,00.html