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French Open Contenders: Andy Murray has a chance

By Geoff Nichols

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French Open Contenders: Andy Murray has a chance

Andy Murray could win the first clay court title of his career at the French Open. Wouldn’t that be something, even for the two time Grand Slam winner. His name tends to be pushed into the background around this time of year, but he definitely has the ability to go all the way.

Translating his undoubted talent into success on the clay has always seemed like a puzzle for Murray. Earlier in his career it was made even more strange by the fact that in interviews he would say his favourite surface was indeed clay, as he had grown up playing on it in Barcelona.

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There is no doubting that it is now his least favoured surface now ideas, shown by the fact that every away tie Great Britain play in the Davis Cup is put on the clay. Nevertheless, his record at the French Open down the years is not half bad, in fact it is really quite good.

A win percentage of 77% tells the whole story when it comes to Murray on clay and many of his French Open escapades have ended the same way as they do for many, with Rafa. Murray has lost five semi finals at clay events, four to Nadal and one to Djokovic.

It is not that he is desperately poor on clay, it is simply that others have been better. Admittedly Murray does seem most vulnerable to an early defeat on the red dirt and it is clear he finds transitioning to the surface difficult every year.

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Much of his tennis is underpinned by faultless movement, which he certainly doesn’t find that natural on clay. His sliding looks fine when watching him play, but he has admitted that he doesn’t always get the timing spot on and those are the fine margins at the top of the sport.

Murray is a Grand Slam champion and that title means more than just the trophies. It gives him an aura in the major events. He is not going to go down easily over five sets, you can be sure of that. Now that he is playing mostly free of pain, it will be interesting to follow his progress on the clay in the lead up to Paris.

If he can win this week in Munich, it will be irrelevant that it is a 250 event, as it will at least stop the comments that he hasn’t won a title on clay. He will then go into the Madrid Masters as the second seed, where he could gain a lot of momentum ahead of a title at the French Open and a third Grand Slam.

French Open Chances: 4 out of 10

Next: What can Rafael Nadal achieve on the clay?

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