Andy Murray’s Blueprint to Deny Novak Djokovic the 2016 French Open Title

With all the pressure on Novak Djokovic’s ambition to win the 2016 French Open, Andy Murray’s Rome title has quietly placed him in position to contend for the greatest title on clay. It’s a new possibility for the Scot who used to slide away from clay-court draws.

While few observers will list Murray with Djokovic or nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, he has been closing in with better results since April 2015. He started by winning Stuttgart and Madrid, pushing Djokovic to five sets in the French Open semifinals and clinching Great Britain’s Davis Cup championship on red clay in Belgium. He’s coming off his biggest clay-court title yet—a convincing 6-3, 6-3 final over Djokovic.

Murray is 29-4 on clay in that stretch, losing only to David Goffin (Rome 2015), Djokovic (French Open 2015), Nadal (Monte Carlo 2016) and Djokovic (Madrid 2016). He has also defeated each of those players since.

Is Murray ready for an epic run at Roland Garros?

It was his fifth attempt – and finally Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic on clay. https://t.co/eKB4qwXYuN pic.twitter.com/tc6abfEMts

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 16, 2016

Awaiting the Draw

It was important for Murray to win Rome and solidify his status as the No. 2 player in the world. He will be at the bottom of the French Open bracket, as far as possible from tournament favorite Djokovic. Now he could use a little more luck of the draw.

Ideally, Murray hopes Nadal will land in the top of the draw, either the quarterfinals or semifinals and set up to war five gruelling sets with the king of clay. The last thing Murray needs is the return of vintage Nadal in all his fiery glory. Even surviving that could be a Pyrrhic victory and leave him burnt to a crisp for the likely and daunting task of beating his Serbian rival who will be eager to avenge Rome and finally conquer Paris.

The RG favs: Djokovic (even though he’s never won it), Nadal & Murray & 2015 champ Wawrinka, then slamless Nishikori, then…young Thiem?

— Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) May 17, 2016

Murray’s consistency and experience should give him the strong advantage over good players who do not have a power advantage. David …

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