ANDY Murray believes he is getting to grips with clay courts after reaching the third round of a Masters Series event on the surface for the first time.
The British No1 followed up Monday's victory over Feliciano Lopez with an assured 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Filippo Volandri yesterday to set up a third-round clash with world No3 Novak Djokovic, likely to be tomorrow, and Murray is feeling upbeat ab
out his form.
"I thought I played really well," he said. "I served particularly well in the first set on the big points. I didn't serve too well in the second set but it was a good performance overall, I hit my groundstrokes well."
The two victories are Murray's first on clay since 2006 after he injured his wrist in Hamburg last year – during a match against Volandri – putting him out for three months.
The 20-year-old Scot has enjoyed better results on faster courts during his career so far, but is confident he can make progress on clay this season under the guidance of former world No2 Alex Corretja.
"I haven't had great results on clay but I've only played 11 or 12 matches on the tour, maybe less," said Murray. "I've had a few injury problems on the clay but I got a good two weeks of practice before I got here and obviously getting the chance to work with someone like Alex has helped too. I played well as a junior on clay and I won a lot of Futures tournaments on clay when I was 16 and 17, but it's just understanding how to beat the best clay-courters on this surface. It's tough, you've got to grind out a lot of points."
Seeded 14th, Murray broke in the sixth game of the opening set, but Volandri immediately hit back as the Italian began in aggressive fashion. A sloppy tenth game proved decisive, however, as Murray clinched the first set. The second set belonged to the world No20, who won five games in a row – saving a host of break points along the way – to ease into round three.
But he faces a tough task to progress further with friend and fellow 20-year-old Djokovic standing in his way.
The Serb has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season, winning his maiden grand slam in Australia and also the Masters Series event in Indian Wells.
Murray has lost all three meetings between the pair, winning only six games during their two most recent matches in Indian Wells and Miami last year.
But although he acknowledges he is the underdog, he is optimistic about his chances of causing an upset.
Murray said: "It'll be a good match. He's obviously had a great start to the year and I saw a little bit of his match today and he's playing very well.
"He's expected to win the match and I just hope I can go out and play like I've done the last couple of days because if I do it's going to be a good match and I've got a chance of winning."
Murray's brother, Jamie, and doubles partner Max Mirnyi, from Belarus, were beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenbergin their opening match in Monte Carlo.
The Polish duo needed just one break of Murray's serve in the fourth game to win the first set. Matkowski and Fyrstenbergin then reeled off five consecutive games from 1-3 in the second set to book their place in the last 16. "It was our first match together on clay and we are disappointed we didn't take our chances after breaking early in the second set," said Murray.
"The Poles hit big on serve and off the ground and we weren't sharp enough on return or at the net today."
Murray and Mirnyi will remain in Monte Carlo to prepare for the Barcelona Open where they need a strong performance to ensure their place in the next Masters Series event in Rome.
The full article contains 675 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
