Murrays in shape for clay
Mother and son are ready to hit the dirt road, Judy in Argentina, Andy in Monte Carlo, looking to clean up, writes Hugh Macdonald
Argentine players in Florida. Like Leon Smith, who preferred Dan Evans to Jamie Baker in the Davis Cup tie against Russia, Murray has a decision to make in who to bring into the singles matches, assuming Robson will be her No 1 choice. She understandably would not give an indication of her thinking but Konta plays well on clay.
Murray, though, was expansive on the “huge opportunity” offered by the tie in Buenos Aires. “We have had 20-odd years of playing in the smaller zones, playing in the middle of nowhere. This gives us the chance to go for three ties that would really allow us to grow the profile of Fed Cup, the profile of women’s tennis and the profile of our players. There is a lot for us to aim for.”
The same applies to her son who has the French Open in his sights. His best run at Roland Garros was to the semi-finals in 2011, but he has been told by Lendl that winning the tournament is an attainable goal.
“He is in very good shape after a very good start to the year. He is in good spirits,” she says of her son who reached the Australian Open final and won the Sony Open in Miami.
“He has shown he can play well on clay,” she adds, before addressing some of the difficulties of the surface. “Some of it is movement but some of it is the mentality,” she says of the abrupt shift from hard court to dirt. “The rallies are long, the ball is kicking up over your shoulder and you have to play shots from different positions.”
There is the first intimations of a wind of change at the top of men’s tennis. Novak Djokovic and Murray take the first two places with Roger Federer at No 3 having back issues, and David Ferrer, at No 4, withdrawing from Monte Carlo because of a thigh injury. Djokovic, too, is nursing a swollen ankle.
However, the biggest injury story concerns Rafael Nadal, now at No 5. He has made a spectacular return after knee surgery andis preparing to play on a surface that has earned him the title of King of Clay. Nadal, approaching 27, has won the MonteCarlo title on eight consecutive occasions. There seems no reason to doubt he can win a ninth, particularly after his impressive title victory on the hard court of Indian Wells last month.
But the season is entering one of its most brutal stretches. How will Nadal’s knees stand up? Is Federer’s back now a chronic problem? And will Djokovic be fit for Monte Carlo? There are questions to be asked about Murray on clay but none of them concern a readiness to play.
“He is definitely one of the fittest guys on the tour. You could see that in the Miami final he could trust his body to handle whatever was thrown at him,” says his mother. “He has the legs, he has the wheels.”
The race to glory begins for both in Europe and South America this week.