When the French Open began, there was a line on Murray’s profile page on the website for the men’s tour which suggested that his favourite surface was clay. That has since been changed to hard courts, and after his fourth-round defeat to Tomas Berdych at Roland Garros he will now begin his preparations for the grass, and many consider that it is on the lawns of London that he has his best chance of winning a first grand slam.
Only in the kitchen showrooms of Surrey, around Andy Murray’s home in Oxshott, would you hear a more animated debate about surfaces.
You know that summer is coming when Vogue are carrying an interview with a teenage British player it is in the July issue that Laura Robson makes the unfortunate suggestion that some of the other female players are “sluts” and when Murray is reacquainting himself with the low, shooting bounce of grass on a practice court ahead of the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queen’s Club.
“I don’t feel terrible just now. I’ve got to get over it quickly because obviously it’s an important few weeks for me, with Queen’s and Wimbledon coming up, and I need to have all my energy focused on the tennis there.
Back in England, Murray needs to shake the clay dust from his racket bag and any negativity from his mind.
“I’ll start practising almost as soon as I get back, and I’ll get in the gym. I’ve got my hunger back, my appetite back for that, and after Wimbledon I’ll have a break but these next few weeks are very important for my year.
"My season so far has been very patchy, and the next few weeks will determine how the year is going to go.”
"It’s a pretty stressful period in terms of the stuff you’ve got to go through, so I had better get over it quickly or I’m not going to do well,” Murray said.
On the grass last season, he went through the draw at Queen’s without dropping a set, so becoming the first British champion in Kensington since Bunny Austin in 1938, and he went on to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final, where he lost to Andy Roddick.
In Paris, Murray was considered to be only an outsider for the title, but during the coming grass-court swing he will rightly be regarded as much more of a force.
"I lost last year to a guy who was playing arguably the best tennis of his life in the semis of Wimbledon and I still feel like I can improve, so I’ll try to work on my game in the next week or so before Queen’s. I do look forward to the grass. I think I have a chance of winning Wimbledon.”
While Murray’s game is best suited to hard courts, and his first grand slam final came at the 2008 US Open and his second at this year’s Australian Open, there are many players who would say that they produce their best tennis on that surface, and there is a smaller group who are comfortable on grass.
“The grass last year was very good,” Murray said. “I didn’t lose a set at Queen’s and was doing everything well. I feel like I’m hitting the ball well, I feel like I have got confidence in my game again, I just need to make sure I take that to the grass and do a few things a little bit better.
Last season, Murray won six titles, with tournament victories in Doha, Rotterdam, Miami, Queen’s, Montreal and Valencia. He has not retained the first three of those six, as he did not play in Doha and Rotterdam and he lost his opening match in Miami.
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