Fit- again Andy has rivals on red alert
WINNING the French Open is all about the details – and Andy Murray has not left a grain of red brick dust unturned as he searches for a way through the draw at Roland Garros.
He starts today against Facundo Arguello, the world No 139 from Argentina and a man who has only won two matches on the main tour all year.
Murray, by contrast, is in the form of his life on the slow, red clay and that is due, his coach believes, to the fact that he is fi t.
Untroubled by aches or pains, he has been able to train properly on the clay for the fi rst time in years. That has allowed Amelie Mauresmo and, latterly, Jonas Bjorkman to show him the art of winning on the most demanding of all surfaces.
“I think what has been important is that he has been healthy,” said Mauresmo. “His body allowed him to work, and to work specifi cally for clay and the little adjustments that you have to do for that surface.
“So that was one big thing that the team was great on.”
Mauresmo is due to give birth to her fi rst child in August and, obviously, will have other priorities by the summer. Bjorkman will take over all coaching duties once Mauresmo goes on maternity leave – but no one knows if she is coming back.
For the moment, Mauresmo and Bjorkman are working together to give Murray the simplest of handovers.
“The good thing is that we are both seeing the same things,” said Mauresmo. “We are both having a desire for Andy to improve in the same areas of his game.
“For a few months we’ve talked about Andy and his game and I think we are on the same page.”
Written large on that page is Murray, for the fi rst time, is going into the French Open as bookies’ third- favourite and, unbeaten on clay this year, with his best chance of making a mark in Paris.
‘ I think we are on the same
page’