Andy Murray has revealed his Davis Cup heroics have convinced him he can be a clay court king this summer.
The Scottish world No.2 enters the clay-court season in Monte Carlo today with growing confidence.
And he puts that down to the experience he gained on the harder surface while spearheading team GB to Davis Cup glory last year.
Such is his self-belief he is adamant that this is the year when he can finally win the French Open.
With the all-conquering, all-dancing Novak Djokovic dominating the Tour and still chasing his first Roland Garros crown, that would seem a bold claim, to say the least.
And with Rafa Nadal showing signs he might be getting back to his best after a poor 2015, it might yet prove to be a foolish one.
But Murray’s performances on clay last year, when he won his first two titles on the surface, in Munich and Madrid, did wonders for his confidence.
So too, did his brilliant effort in Paris when he reached the semi-finals and pushed Djokovic into a deciding fifth set.
With his 29th birthday just a month away, Murray might have figured out how to play his very best on clay before now, but better late than never and he will begin his clay-court season in Monte Carlo tomorrow with growing confidence.
“There were a few things on clay last year that I kind of figured out,” said Murray, who has been training on clay for the past week.
“Often I would play nine or 10 months in a row on hard courts before coming into the clay-court season and I was then still moving like I was on a hard court, just instinctively,” he explained.
“It’s a shame it’s taken a long time for me to start to feel good on that but I did work really hard on it last year, during the training block, when I went to Barcelona and then before the Davis Cup final.
“By taking the appropriate time to train and really work on that side of things, it’s a bit more instinctive to move and slide into balls.”
The result is that Murray feels more confident, more relaxed and calmer than ever before as he begins the first of three clay-court Masters 1000s.
Madrid and Rome will follow Monte Carlo in the first two weeks of May before he has a crack at Roland Garros, where he now really believes he could do something special.
“I know that it’s possible that I could win the French Open,” he said.
“Last year was by far my best clay-court season, I had some good wins and even in the match I lost against Novak, I played well, my best performance at the French Open.
“Then in the Davis Cup final against David Goffin, I feel like I played some good tennis in that match. It’s the first time I’ve had good wins on clay against the best players and that obviously helps with the belief.”
First up for Murray in Mone Carlo will be either Argentina’s Guido Pella or Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert, who came through the qualifying event.
Today, though, Murray will be on court alongside Dom Inglot in a first-round doubles match, taking the opportunity to get some extra practice in and help Inglot in his quest to keep his ranking high enough to qualify for the Olympics this summer.
Doubles may just be on Murray’s mind, too, with his brother Jamie Murray sitting pretty at the top of the world rankings.
The younger Murray yesterday expressed his pride at the achievements of Jamie, who won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open in January alongside Bruno Soares of Brazil.
“I feel very proud of him,” he said. “I didn’t expect him to have done what he’s done. It’s been incredible. He’s worked extremely hard.
“He’s invested a lot in himself in the last couple of years. The LTA stopped doubles funding when Bob Brett came in (as performance director), and Jamie had to make some quite big decisions about what he’s going to do and it’s paid off for him.
“He deserves to be No 1 because of what he’s done the past nine months. His performances in the big events have been really good, final Wimbledon, final US, winning Australia, and he obviously performed really well throughout the whole Davis Cup."
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