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Murray admits he cannot afford to 'play crap'

Andy Murray struck the ball well at the Monte Carlo Masters © Getty Images

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Andy Murray has not ruled out a shock triumph at Roland Garros in the second grand slam event of the year, but he admits he needs to match Rafael Nadal's consistency.

Murray finally returned to form at the Monte Carlo Masters, breezing into the semi-finals before losing in three sets to Nadal. The British No. 1 was the only player to take a set off Nadal all week, and there was no shame in losing to a man who went on to lift his seventh consecutive Monte Carlo title.

However, there was a great degree of shame surrounding Murray's previous three months, which saw him fail to win a tennis match after his Australian Open final defeat in January. Nadal has now won 30 titles on his favoured clay court surface in an exceptional career, whereas Murray could not buy a victory over three months on his own preferred hard court platform, and it is that dip in consistency that he wants to eradicate.

"That's the thing that was disappointing in the US tournaments," Murray said in The Times. "I didn't feel as if it was me on the court and I need to make sure it never happens again.

"I need to play like I did against Rafa every week - that's what he does and why he's the No. 1. [Novak] Djokovic has been very consistent this year, and to beat those guys and overtake them in the rankings you need to do it all the time.

"You can't go out and play crap for three weeks in a row, because it gives guys a feeling that they can beat you, and you don't want to have that."

Murray remains at No. 4 in the world, with Fernando Verdasco the only man to fall out of the top 10, and the Scot refuses to write off the French Open despite Nadal's dominance on clay.

"There are a lot of people who say I don't play well on clay. It's not my best surface, but I feel I can play well on it. I felt by the French Open in the past couple of years I was starting to do well. I need to make sure I go for the win in all the tournaments here in Europe because I was hitting the ball the way I wanted to hit it every time. So it's possible, you just need to be very, very patient and very fit."

ATP Tour Rankings
1. Rafael Nadal (SPA), 2. Novak Djokovic (SRB), 3. Roger Federer (SUI), 4. Andy Murray (GBR), 5. Robin Soderling (SWE), 6. David Ferrer (SPA), 7. Tomas Berdych (CZE), 8. Jurgen Melzer (AUT), 9. Gael Monfils (FRA), 10. Mardy Fish (USA)

WTA Tour Rankings
1. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN), 2. Kim Clijsters (BEL), 3. Vera Zvonareva (RUS), 4. Francesca Schiavone (ITA), 5. Victoria Azarenka (BLR), 6. Li Na (CHN), 7. Sam Stosur (AUS), 8. Jelena Jankovic (SRB), 9. Maria Sharapova (RUS), 10. Serena Williams (USA)

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