At the tender age of 21, Andy Murray still has a lot to learn in the game of tennis. He has had many injuries already in his career, which have blighted his move up the rankings so far.

He has flirted with a top-10 ATP ranking but earlier this year dropped out of the top 20, only to re-enter during the clay court season. Murray has no points to defend in either the Hamburg Masters Series event this week or the French Open in a couple of weeks.

Can the British player potentially become a great clay court tennis superstar? I think so - just give him a bit of time to find his feet and he'll soon be challenging the best on the surface!

'Murray certainly has the game to suit the clay. His power from the back of the court is excellent and he has a great shot selection which can fool even the best players in the game'


It's true Murray hasn't had a great 2008 clay court season so far, but the youngster has had limited experience playing on the surface professionally. In 2004 and 2005 he was playing on the Challenger and Futures tours and had relatively good success, winning a couple of low-key events on the Spanish clay.

In 2006 he made his mark on the ATP tour more permanently, although he only won two matches all year on clay, hardly showing he could compete with the big boys. The year after saw Murray miss most of the European clay court season and so, again, his fans and his rivals on the tour didn't see his true capabilities on the slow surfaces.

But 2008 has seen Murray come into the clay court season optimistic about his chances. He has had good success on the hard courts, winning tournaments in Doha and Marseille, and now Murray wants to make his way back up the rankings by finally having a full season on the red clay.