General / Ben Caudell / 27 April 2010 /

The Brit is in a funk and a tricky second round encounter with wily clay court specialist Andreas Seppi is not what the doctor ordered

Andreas Seppi (ITA) v Andy Murray (GBR)
The question everyone will be asking today is whether Murray's dire form is set to continue since reaching the final of the Australian Open in January, or will the young Brit bounce back, take the bull by the horn, and finally get a much needed win under his belt not only to help his ranking improve but also to get a bit of piece of mind and confidence back into his game?
Murray's bad stretch includes early round losses to Janko Tipsarevic and Mardy Fish, and was capped off with an incredible defeat 6-2 6-1 by Philip Kohlschreiber of Germany in one of the most one-sided matches I have witnessed this year. Murray's mind was elsewhere during this lacklustre display in Monte Carlo, and it was obvious that the tennis court was the last place he wanted to be.
That defeat prompted the number five ranked player in the world to return to Barcelona, where he spent much of time as a junior to fine tune his clay court game and surround himself with some of the best clay court coaches the game has to offer. There is no doubt that Murray will benefit from his one week training experience in Barcelona and I'm sure he will be mentally stronger against today than he was against Philip Kohlschrieber.
But Andreas Seppi will be another testing opponent for the young Brit. Not only is he playing in his own back yard, with the support of the home crowd, he is also playing on his favourite surface. The Italian's game is suited to the red dirt; he has a shortage of big winning shots in his armoury but will grind down his opponent through grit and determination. Murray will have to be prepared to rally all day if he is going to outplay Seppi tonight, something he was unable to do in Monte Carlo.
Murray has a 3-1 head to head series lead over the Italian, the most recent win was at this years Indian Wells Master Series event 6-4 6-4. But the Brits record in Rome is poor, 1-4 compared with Seppi's 5-5. The Italian recorded a great win over compatriot Fabio Fognini in the first round 6-0 6-3, however he has lost 19 in a row when his opponent is a Top 10 player.
I can see this match going all the way, if Seppi takes his chances and doesn't bottle it at key points in the game another major upset could be on the cards, "watch out Murray fans"

Selection: Back Seppi @ 3.4 to win match
Lay A Murray 2-0 @ 2.0

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