NOVAK DJOKOVIC looked likely to go into the French Open as favourite to claim the only grand slam title he has yet to win after he defeated Rafael Nadal to triumph in the Monte Carlo Masters last month.
Andy Murray would not put a number on it but, as he left Rome last night, despondent and frustrated on a 26th birthday he would rather forget, the chances of him showing up in Paris for the French Open later this month seemed no more than 50-50.
Andy Murray does not expect to be fit for the French Open after retiring from his second-round match in Rome today with a recurrence of a back problem.
When a 14-year-old Laura Robson vowed to "take Venus Williams down" after winning the junior Wimbledon title in 2008, she knew that one day her words might come back to haunt her.
Andy Murray bemoaned a failure to take his chances, but said his clay season is "going in the right direction" following the failure of his latest bid for a maiden title on his least favoured surface.
It was not the worst of weeks in Madrid for Andy Murray but as the new world No.2 packed his bags and headed for the Italian Open in Rome, he knew that it was an opportunity missed.
Andy Murray finally reached the quarter-final of the Mutua Madrid Open after he broke the dogged resistance of Frenchman Gilles Simon in a match lasting almost three hours.
ANDY MURRAY scrapped his way to victory in a tough workout against Germany's Florian Mayer that lasted more than two hours yesterday afternoon but Novak Djokovic, the world No.1, was unable to match him in a dramatic night game against Grigor Dimitrov.
Andy Murray shrugged off his slow start to the clay-court season by reaching the last 16 of the Madrid Open with a battling win over Germany's Florian Mayer today.
ANDY Murray's first clay-court outing of the season might have been short lived but six-time grand slam champion Boris Becker believes he will never get a better chance than this year to win the French Open.
The first ATP Champions Tour event to be held in Scotland has been bolstered by confirmation that Carlos Moya, the former world No 1, will compete in June's Brodies Champions of Tennis in Edinburgh.
Andy Murray does not need any extra incentive to win Wimbledon this summer but if he does become the first British man to win it since Fred Perry in 1936, then he will take home £1.6m for his efforts, a rise of 39% on the 2012 winner's cheque.
11 May 2013
10 May 2013
