Andy Murray's pilates craze helps boost his French Open chances

Andy Murray has a new reason to cheer, his form so far at the French Open has been spectacular. Murray has won all 10 of the matches he has contested on the clay surface this year. And what’s played a big part in upping his game: pilates.

Last year his form was dismal - even eight months after surgery - his back was not as strong and as supple as it needed to be for clay, which is a slower surface which requires the body to generate a lot of torque to power the ball.

Whether it’s in team sports such as rugby or football, individual sports like tennis/athletics or endurance events (marathon running or rowing), pilates is playing a bigger role in elite sports . It helps build flexibility, strength and endurance and emphasises breathing in order to relieve stress and allow adequate oxygen to flow to muscles.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams are already sworn Pilates fans.

“I had a gyrotonics - a pilates - teacher come over from America,” Murray told the BBC at the Rome Masters earlier this month.

“She came over to Barcelona so I did a lot more work on my movement and my range of motion in my body. I feel physically much healthier with my back than I did at this time last year. It’s not just that - my tennis has been good as well - but it’s been a big, big factor for me.”

And for a man once dubbed ’the most negative person I’ve ever met’ by a former coach it has helped transform him, reports the Daily Mail . The on-court meltdowns and the dour post-match interviews are a thing of the past.

One of the benefits of studying core body movements with Pilates is that it ensures that a sports person knows when an injury is ‘brewing’. With Andy Murray’s form improving with pilates, it’s definitely going to get a lot more popular in the tennis circles.