ANDY MURRAY is confident he can claim his first win over Gilles Simon when the pair meet in the second round of the Hamburg Masters tomorrow.
The British No.1 was a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victor against Dmitry Tursunov in the first round yesterday – his fourth win on clay this season.
Murray's only completed match on the surface last year – before he injured his wrist in Hamburg – was a t
hree-set defeat to Simon in Rome.
The 23-year-old Frenchman is likely to provide more of a test than Tursunov, who is much more at home on faster surfaces, but the Dunblane player is confident that he can match his performance in Monte Carlo last month by making it into the third round.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "It was a tough match in Rome, we had a couple of rain delays and there wasn't much rhythm.
"The weather's been beautiful here so hopefully that'll stay the same. I'm feeling confident I can win that one."
Murray's performance against Tursunov was arguably his best on clay, with the greater variety of the Scot's game largely nullifying the power of the unpredictable Russian.
It followed a second-round defeat to Stanislas Wawrinka in Rome last week, and Murray has utilised the occasion to have a pop at his critics. He said: "I haven't played that many matches on clay so to expect me to play well every single week (is too much).
"I lost a tough match against a tough guy last week and a bit too much was obviously made of it. I had chances in the second set and I didn't feel I played my best.
"I'm playing better on clay this year and I'm feeling a bit more confident. I'm sliding very well so hopefully I can have another good match tomorrow."
Victory over Simon would set up a probable third-round meeting with clay king Rafael Nadal, possibly on Thursday – Murray's 21st birthday.
The full article contains 340 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
