FOR all the achievements in his already incredible career, if Andy Murray can beat Novak Djokovic to win the French Open here today, it would perhaps rank as the greatest of the lot.

Considering that Murray broke a 77-year wait for a British male winner at Wimbledon in 2013, that might seem a bit of an exaggeration.

But though Wimbledon was and will always remain a crowning achievement, to triumph on the clay courts of Paris, a city where he once got lost on the Metro, would arguably be even more impressive.

By consensus, this is the hardest of the four Grand Slams to win, the clay courts requiring huge physical endurance, enhanced tactical understanding of how to construct points and the mental strength to get through tough situations.

Should Murray add his name to an honour roll that includes Guillermo Vilas, Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal, three of the greatest mudlarks in history, it would be a career-defining achievement.

“Us winning the Davis Cup [last November] came as more of a shock [than being in the final here], to be honest,” he said.

“I didn’t necessarily expect to be in this position a couple of years ago. But from last year, the belief that it was possible was there – I was pretty close last year.

“Whereas in the Davis Cup, even with Tim [Henman] and Greg [Rusedski] in the team who were two top 10 players, we never won a World Group match. So the Davis Cup in my opinion was more of a shock.

This, remember, is a man who grew up playing on the windswept hard courts of Dunblane, whose first sight of real red clay came when he travelled to the continent in his early teens.

But it was not until he moved to Barcelona as a 15-year-old, to train at the Sanchez-Casal academy, that he really learned how to build points on clay, a base that has led him to this point.

“There are not many tennis players that have come out of the UK and played well on the clay,” he said.

“The decision I made to go to Spain when I was 15 to train for a couple of years – I’m not saying that’s necessarily the reason that I’m here today – but if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have got that base that I gained there.

“That has made a big difference. It was a big decision in my career to do that.”

The joke going round Roland Garros as the tournament has progressed is that after what was the wettest May in Paris since records began, maybe it’s no surprise that a Scot should find himself in the final.

An ability to play in tough conditions is, of course, something all players need to have in their locker, but Murray has survived this fortnight also on his mental toughness after a gruelling first two rounds.

Two points from losing to Radek Stepanek in round one, he was two sets to one down in the second round to French wildcard Mathias Bourgue, a man playing his first Grand Slam main draw match.

Staying alive took strength of character, as did a debate about just why Amelie Mauresmo had decided to step down as his coach less than a month before the French Open began.

If that was a distraction, Murray quickly put it out of his mind and focused on his job, seeing off two big servers in Ivo Karlovic and John Isner, then French hope Richard Gasquet, and on Friday, beating the defending champion Stan Wawrinka in a brilliant semi-final display.

It was a performance that turned many heads and perhaps minds, turning doubters into believers as Murray prepares to face his old foe, Djokovic, yet again.

The pair have met six times in Grand Slam finals, with Djokovic winning two and the Serb leads 23-10 overall and has won 12 of their 14 matches since Murray beat him to win Wimbledon in 2013.

That victory, though, remains vivid in Murray’s memory and the Scot said he will take plenty of confidence from all his previous wins when he and Djokovic go head to head for the title today.

“I beat him in the Wimbledon final and the final of the US Open and the [semi-final of the] Olympics,” he said. “I’ve lost some tough matches against him, in Australia especially. But elsewhere it’s been OK. When you look back at the end of your career, I think it’s nice to have had someone you have shared a lot of those same moments with.

“Not all of them have gone my way obviously. But I remember most of my matches against Novak, more than I do against others, because they have been most of the biggest matches for me.

“Australian Open finals, Wimbledon final, Olympics, US Opens, here last year in the semi-finals. We’ve played a lot of big matches and it will be the same again on Sunday.”

If Murray had time to take a peek at last year’s semi-final, he would have seen that the brand of aggressive tennis he played in the third and fourth sets, when he levelled the match, was similar to the way he played in ousting Wawrinka.

“When I have played my best tennis, it has been to try to make every point really tough and long, and extend the rallies as much as I can, and not give anything for free,” he said. “Because the best players, when you do get free games, it’s nice. The more you can make any of the top players work, the better, and I will try to do that at the beginning of the match.”

Today’s meeting will be Murray’s 10th Grand Slam final, something only 10 men have managed in the Open era, and though he has lost seven of his previous title showdowns, the pressure may just be off.

Djokovic is chasing a fourth straight slam and a 12th in all, but needs the French Open to complete a career grand slam and while it would be Murray’s first Roland Garros win too, nerves could yet play a role.

“Everyone handles pressure differently,” Murray said. “It’s really my job to make it as difficult as possible for him so that hopefully he has a few doubts, which all athletes get, at different stages.”