Once an also-ran on clay, Andy Murray now has his best ever chance of winning the French Open

On Sunday, the British No. 1 Andy Murray will complete a notable first in his glittering career: play in the final of the French Open. He booked his spot on Friday with a high-calibre 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 take-down of defending champion Stan Wawrinka.

Facing Murray in the final is the unstoppable runaway favourite Novak Djokovic who waits with a 23-10 lead over the Scotsman, including a 4-1 lead on clay.

Don't forget, Murray’s only victory over the Djoker came at Rome last month when he blew the Serb off the court 6-3 6-3 to clinch the final, garnering revenge for a final set loss in Madrid. For those who have followed Murray's career graph closely, the manner of his victory over Djokovic, who has been in tremendous form, was unexpected.

Until his 2014 semi-final heartbreak to Rafael Nadal after two gruelling back-to-back five-setters, Murray had mostly competed in the French Open as an also-ran. True, he was faced, as McEnroe put it, “against three of the best that ever played”, but barring his 2011 loss to Nadal in the semis, his performances included losses in the first, third, fourth rounds and quarter-finals to non top-ten opponents like Gael Monfils, Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer, leading up to the 2014 and 2015 semi-finals against the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) trio.

In fact, until 2014, Murray had only one victory, against Juan Martin Del Potro, against a top-ten player on clay. His career on the surface till then included no titles and a very poor record by his standards. To go from that result to his first ever French Open final – and beyond that, to the poise of a “natural” that he has acquired largely in the past 12 months since his semi-final showing in Paris against Djokovic last year – suggests a major make-over in the Scotsman’s prowess on clay, not unlike the explosion of the Djoker’s possibilities with a new diet-plan.

No pain, no gain

Ironically, Murray’s transformation on clay came after surgery as a last resort against the struggles he has faced with his back. As a surface, clay is known for the demands it makes on players, with stretched slides and running around the court being essential.

It was for this reason that Nadal excelled at Roland Garros, and Murray’s movements on the surface, by comparison, were slow. His posture – courtesy his back – was not balanced, denying his ground-strokes the power to create the opportunity for his deadly trademark drop-shot.

However, since his surgery in 2013 and a year spent recovering to full fitness, besides an enormous amount of practice with former Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo, Murray has been able hold up better, and thus bring his drop-shot tactic into play both on court and in his opponent’s minds.

Mauresmo’s coaching has also borne results, and therefore her departure right before the tournament may have put Murray off his stride a little. That might be one of the reasons for his having to play ten sets in his first two matches.

However on the bright side, Murray has now won his first title on clay and has made his first final at Roland Garros. More importantly, the World No. 2 has started to play a brand of tennis more attuned to his natural roots.

Staggering numbers

The results of these changes have vindicated Murray, as his performances on clay in the past 13 months have produced results. Since the last French Open, Murray has won 93 per cent of his matches on clay, higher than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, and well above his career win percentage at 69 per cent.

The start of this amazing run can be traced to two wins in 24 hours against Philipp Kohlschreiber, coming in 2015. Incidentally, the first flairs of Murray’s post-surgery resurgence were also seen against Kohlschreiber, against whom the Scotsman played one of his two titanic five-setters (it finished 12-10 in the final set) in the French Open in 2014, before the gutting loss to Nadal in the semis.

Since his two victories, Murray has been close to unbeatable on clay, demonstrated in his 15 game winning streak that was ended by Djokovic last month in Madrid. Murray bounced back from that loss to win the next tournament in Rome, and has now followed it up with a gritty, paved-with-sheer-toil display until the semis, where he outplayed the defending champion.

A golden chance

So, could this be the perfect time for Murray at Roland Garros this year? Tennis legend John McEnroe has said, “Maybe Andy’s best chance to win the French Open ever could be this year,” while also expressing doubt over how long he can keep to this unexpectedly high level.

Murray has also revealed his intent at Roland Garros this year. “It’s been nice at this stage in my career to achieve things that I’d never done and maybe thought that I wouldn’t,” he said, adding that he wasn’t in Paris just “to be in the finals”.

His triumph over Wawrinka – in many ways, Murray’s alter ego, with a junior Grand Slam and two Grand Slams each, despite starkly contrasting styles – seems to suggest that the Scotsman has arrived on the clay court. Now, can he seal the debate in the final?