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Murray seeks unlikely Henman inspiration

PARIS — Ask Andy Murray which player he intends to emulate at Roland Garros this year, and the answer might surprise you. Tim Henman did not appear in Telegraph online’s recent list of the 20 best clay-courters in history; in fact, he might have had trouble sneaking into the top 2000.

Murray opens his French Open campaign today against Argentine qualifier Facundo Arguello. Photo: Getty Images

Murray opens his French Open campaign today against Argentine qualifier Facundo Arguello. Photo: Getty Images

PARIS — Ask Andy Murray which player he intends to emulate at Roland Garros this year, and the answer might surprise you. Tim Henman did not appear in Telegraph online’s recent list of the 20 best clay-courters in history; in fact, he might have had trouble sneaking into the top 2000.

But still, he is a former semi-finalist here, and it is his guile and subtle hands that Murray says he hopes to channel over the next fortnight.

This is all of a piece with Murray’s subtle reinvention over the past 18 months, where he has tried to rediscover his teenage origins as a cheeky touch player who would drop-shot and lob his opponents to distraction.

Coach after coach did their best to knock this habit out of him, arguing it was self-indulgent and inefficient. Ivan Lendl, in particular, was never a drop-shot kind of guy.

But under Amelie Mauresmo — a less domineering figure who appreciates beautiful strokeplay for its own sake — Murray is once again expressing his mischievous side on court. The arrival of his new coaching assistant Jonas Bjorkman has only reinforced the message.

“One of the things Jonas said to me was that on the clay, he always preferred to play guys that loved playing on the clay,” explained Murray, who opens his French Open campaign today against Argentine qualifier Facundo Arguello.

“Tim was the same. He used to love coming into the net or drop-shotting or coming in behind the drop shots, using the short slice, and just playing a different game style which they found difficult to deal with.”

Henman might have been the quintessential grass-court specialist, but he did have one fairytale run at Roland Garros before losing in the semi-finals to Guillermo Coria.

This is where Murray has the advantage over Henman. When he has achieved the sort of peak conditioning that he brought into this year’s clay-court season, it is hard to know where to attack him. Over the past month, Murray has reversed his own shaky clay-court record as dramatically as Henman did in 2004, lifting back-to-back titles on the red dirt. His clinical victory over Rafael Nadal in the Madrid final was surely the finest win of his ATP career.

“The last few weeks have helped build my belief and confidence on clay,” said Murray.

“There are things in his game which I felt like I used to do and maybe got a little bit away from. He used to be very aggressive on the second-serve return.

“Just before I started with Jonas, I was saying to him that was something I wanted to get back into doing, putting pressure on my opponents in that way.”

It is not only the arrival of Bjorkman that has shaken things up, but the news that Mauresmo is to become a mother for the first time in August.

Thus far, the future direction of the team remains a little unclear: we know that Bjorkman will take the reins during the American hard-court season, and that Mauresmo has hopes of returning for the Paris Masters in early November.

But much is still to be decided; even whether she will be available to steer Murray’s Wimbledon challenge in just over a month’s time.

“That’s why the week after Roland Garros I will think about it and have medical opinion on whether I’m meeting the team in Wimbledon or not, so that’s gonna be the decision made after the French Open,” she said.

TV TIMES:

The French Open will be shown “live” on StarHub TV Ch201 from 5pm today.

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