BRITAIN could have its first French Open champion since Fred Perry took the title in 1935 according to Leon Smith, the GB Davis Cup captain.
The 39 year-old Scot, who is also head coach of Men's Tennis at the LTA believes Andy Murray has a very real possibility of emerging as champion at Roland Garros in a couple of weeks time. "When Andy beat [Rafa] Nadal a few weeks ago, it was just amazing," says Smith. "He really is unbelievable. He's been playing great for a while though and he's absolutely in with a shout of winning the French Open."
Smith's prediction is based on solid foundations. Murray is 10-0 on clay this year having won in Munich at the start of the month and following that up a week later by claiming the Madrid Masters title which culminated in that glorious win against Nadal in the final.
Murray's victory in Nadal's homeland was huge - it was his first ever win over the Spaniard on clay and the first time he had beaten Nadal for four years. His form on the red dirt this month has propelled the 28 year-old into the group of favourites to win the second grand slam of the year. "I think [Novak] Djokovic is the favourite to win the French, he's been playing so well and you can never discount Nadal in Paris either - he has to be one of the favourites after what he's done there," says Smith. "But Andy can win it, for sure. It's actually no surprise that he is doing so well on clay - he's been playing well on the surface for a few years now. And it makes sense - he's learnt how to play well on it slightly later in his career compared to guys like Nadal and Djokovic because they were brought up on clay. I know that Andy played on clay a lot when he went to Spain at 15 but those guys had been playing on clay since they were four years old. So it makes sense that it's been a little later in his career that he's begun to feel really good on it."
The respect that Smith has for Murray is obvious - he has known the world No.3 since the former Wimbledon champion was eleven years old and watched him develop from a talented junior into a double grand slam winner and Olympic gold medallist. Smith was one of Murray's first coaches and has been on much of the journey with him. He talks with the utmost admiration about Murray's fight to regain form and fitness after his back surgery in 2013 - a rehabilitation process that lasted almost a year and saw Murray drop to No.12 in the world rankings, his lowest position since 2008.
But Smith believes that Murray's form this year, beginning with reaching the final of the Australian Open in January to winning his first clay court title, closely followed by his second this month, proves that he is back to his best. The changes that Murray has made to his coaching team in the last year have been significant but Smith believes these have been overwhelmingly positive also.
"When [Amelie] Mauresmo was a player, she found different ways to play and I think that Andy relates to that," he says. "She's different from Ivan Lendl. He was good at getting Andy over the line [in a grand slam]. He got Andy to be more aggressive and he also gave him confidence that he could do it and at that time, that was what he needed. But I think now he needs different things and Mauresmo gives him that."
Murray has also added the Swede, Jonas Bjorkman, to his coaching team in recent weeks, another positive addition according to Smith. "Bjorkman also brings something different," he says. "He really maximised his career - he's still in the top-20 earners of all time in men's tennis which just shows how successful he was. He really made the most of what he had and Andy respects that. He did well over a long period of time and I think Andy can relate to him."
Smith also has obvious admiration for the manner in which Murray has taken control of his career - changing his set-up when he feels it necessary. "Andy's a very loyal guy but at the same time, and I say this to the younger players, they need to lead their own career and Andy does that which is unbelievably important," Smith says. "If he needs something, he makes that decision but he's still really good friends with every single coach he's had. At his wedding, all his ex-coaches were there which says something."
Looking to the future, Smith is confident that further grand slam success will come Murray's way. "I think he's doing everything possible to win another grand slam - he's working hard, he's improving, he's finding different things on the coaching side," says Smith. "He's playing so well and he's not far away. He's in a tough era but he's going to be remembered as one of the big four. In terms of the next few years of grand slam winners, there's a few other guys coming through but Djokovic isn't going anywhere and Andy is playing unbelievably well, so he's not going away any time soon. We might see a few of the younger guys coming through but in terms of winning grand slams, with Novak and Andy there, it's going to be hard for anyone else to break through regularly. I think this year and moving forward, Novak and Andy will be the ones to really watch out for."
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