BMW Open 2015: Upbeat Andy Murray hopes to break clay-court duck with Munich title

Andy Murray has won tournaments in 13 countries across four continents, on hard courts and grass, indoors and outdoors, but has never claimed a title either in Germany or on clay. The coming days will give the Scot an excellent chance to expand his portfolio on both counts as he competes at the BMW Open in Munich.

Murray had a first-round bye at the elegant Iphitos Club in the Bavarian capital’s northern suburbs and plays his opening match of the current clay-court campaign against a 27-year-old German qualifier, Mischa Zverev, who is ranked No 653 in the world after missing most of last year through injury.

If results go according to rankings, Murray could then meet world No 41 Lukas Rosol in the quarter-finals, Roberto Bautista Agut, ranked 16, in the semi-finals on Saturday and world No 21 David Goffin in Sunday’s final.

The fact that Murray has never even appeared in a clay-court final might suggest that he plays poorly on the surface, but his record is largely down to the competitions in which he has entered.

Until now, the only clay-court tournament in which he has competed other than Masters Series events – which draw all the top players – is the Barcelona Open, where Rafael Nadal won the title on all four of the Scot’s appearances.

Events on the men’s tour are divided into three categories – the Masters Series, the 500s, like Barcelona, in which 500 ranking points are awarded to the champion, and 250s, worth 250 points for the victor. Munich is a 250 and, consequently, has attracted a comparatively weak field.

The likes of Nadal, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer are all keeping their powder dry this week, although Roger Federer is playing in another 250 in Istanbul.

“I thought this would be a good opportunity to try to play some matches on the clay,” Murray said. “I’d like to try to win a clay-court event. A lot of the times when I have played well on the clay I’ve lost to Rafa and to Novak, so I’m hoping I can have a good run here.”

Most of the top players began their European clay-court campaigns at the Monte Carlo Masters, where Djokovic won the title 10 days ago. Murray was absent because the tournament clashed with his wedding. He trained last week in Barcelona with his coach, Amélie Mauresmo, and with Jonas Bjorkman, who has just joined his entourage and is in charge of his preparations this week.

One reason Murray’s results used to dip during the clay-court season was a back problem, which was aggravated by playing on the surface. He had surgery on it 19 months ago and spent most of last season searching for his best form, but said that 10 days working in Barcelona had demonstrated that he was in good shape this year.

“It went really well,” Murray said. “I had some good practice. There were a lot of good guys there to play with. Physically I feel very good, which wasn’t really the case when I came on to the clay in the last couple of years. I had quite a lot of problems with my back.”

Murray, who joined forces with Jean-Julien Rojer to beat Rosol and Raven Klaasen 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the doubles, experienced good weather at the start of the week, but it has since deteriorated. Rain is forecast for the event, with the temperature predicted to peak on Friday at just 12C. The conditions are far from ideal, particularly for someone with a history of back trouble.

Munich is more than 500 metres above sea level, which means the balls can fly faster through the thinner air. Murray noted that it would be good preparation for next week’s Masters Series tournament in Madrid, which is another 150m higher. The world No 3 will then play for a third week in succession, at the Rome Masters, before heading to the French Open.

Murray has performed well enough on clay in the past to reach the semi-finals at two French Opens and three Masters Series events. Like most of today’s leading players, he adjusts well to all surfaces.

“I think one of the challenges is to try not to let the [clay] affect the way that you play,” he said. “Obviously, moving on clay is a challenge for a lot of the players. It’s something I work on a lot during the clay-court season because of the sliding and the different movements that you have to make. In terms of my game style, I try to stay as close as I can to what it is on the other surfaces.”

In the coming weeks, Djokovic will be seen as the man to beat – “He’s been playing extremely good tennis and is very confident,” Murray said – but the Scot expects Nadal to be back at his best soon. “Obviously, he has struggled since he came back from his injuries,” he added, “but I think he’ll get back to where he wants to be in the next couple of months.”