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.
Murray defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters, having received a bye in the first, before the 25-year-old made a catalogue of errors in the third-round match with Stanislas Wawrinka and was booed after falling 6-1, 6-2 – his heaviest defeat in three years.
Having reached No.2 in the world after his win last month at the Miami Masters, Murray has dropped to No.3 with Roger Federer back in second place behind Novak Djokovic.
However, Becker believes the form and fitness of Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal are worse than Murray's – something that will play into his hands at the French Open. "Clay is not his best surface, he seems to struggle a little bit more, but the top guys right now are in some trouble," said Becker, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open three times. "Rafael Nadal is still not quite there, Roger is getting older and has taken a bit of a sabbatical and Novak lost surprisingly early in Indian Wells and Miami and has picked up an injury.
"So form-wise it looks like at the moment Murray is on top and this year is probably one of the best – if not the best – chances he will ever get at winning the French Open.
"With Nadal still on the comeback trail, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for players like Andy and he needs to make the most of it."
Murray opted against playing in the Barcelona Open last week ahead of this week's Madrid Masters. He will retake the world No.2 spot if Federer fails to retain his title in Madrid.
Murray's best result at the French Open, which begins on May 26, is a semi-final defeat by seven-time champion Nadal in 2011. Last year, he lost in the quarter-finals to David Ferrer.And, should Murray avoid a repeat of Monte Carlo, three-time Wimbledon champion Becker foresees a scenario in which he will bid to become the world No.1 at the All England Club.
"It is not easy, you have to be so consistent, and Novak has been 'Mr Consistent' for the last two years," said Becker, at the national trials of the Barclays Ball Kids programme. "But Andy has had a great start to the season and with not that many points to defend on the clay courts it could get close. He lost early at Queen's last year so if he can improve then by the time Wimbledon comes around he could be very close, indeed. It would be perfect timing, and you could not write a better script if he were to complete both."
*For more information on becoming a Barclays Ball Kid at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November, you can visit www.barclaysballkids.com
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