Tennis-Open-Murray becoming great clay player, says Tipsarevic

By Sonia Oxley

PARIS, May 29 (Reuters) - Andy Murray is still not sliding enough on clay but he has the best passing shot among his peers and is becoming a great player on his least favourite surface, his beaten French Open third round opponent said on Friday.

Serb Janko Tipsarevic, who retired with a hamstring problem while trailing 7-6 6-3 in the best-of-five set match, said the British third seed would face a stiff test against his last-16 opponent Marin Cilic.

"On clay he's not feeling as great as he is on other surfaces," Tipsarevic told a news conference.

"His flat shots and balls were dropping short and low over the net, not as tricky as they are on grass or on hard court. He's not using sliding enough."

He said Murray's confidence was high after his best clay season in which he reached the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals and Madrid quarter-finals, as well as advancing to the Roland Garros fourth round for the first time.

"When it matters, he's a world class player and he knows what needs to be played. He makes you play that extra shot, even though another guy on tour will not do that," he said.

"He has improved a lot. We're talking about a guy who is making minimum amount of unforced errors on the slowest surface in the world. In my, opinion he is the best defender and has the best passing shot on tour.

"I mean, he's not (Rafael) Nadal but he's still a great player on clay."