Andy Murray cannot stop winning on the red stuff. His confidence and poise were too much for the erratic Frenchman Jérémy Chardy on Wednesday, lending strength to the view that the Scot is playing the best clay-court tennis of his life less than a fortnight before the French Open.
Afterwards, Murray readjusted the assessment of his chances of winning in Paris – where he has reached two semi-finals – upward to: “It’s not impossible.” He paused, adding: “Maybe this year will be different, I’ll go in there thinking there’s a chance.”
Murray’s dilemma when he arrived at the Foro Italico for his 10th Rome Masters after an unprecedented run of nine wins in two clay tournaments over 10 days, including a two-set thumping of Rafael Nadal in the final of the Madrid Open last Sunday, was to fine-tune his game in conditions more akin to Roland Garros or rest and prepare as he had planned to before this burst of exquisite clay form.