Wednesday 18 May 2016 09:01, UK
Andy Murray will head into the French Open with his shortest ever odds following his Rome Masters triumph, with Sky Bet slashing his price to 9/2.
The Scot is now considered to have his best chance to date of winning the season's only clay-court Grand Slam after beating world No 1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-3 in Sunday's final.
The victory not only represented his first title in the Italian capital but also his first win over the Serb on the red dirt and just his third from their last 15 clashes on all surfaces.
Warning signs of Murray's continued progress on clay were apparent from his Madrid run, where he beat the 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal before going down in three sets to Djokovic in the final.
He then came of age on his birthday to take advantage of a fatigued Djokovic, who had to come through a gruelling three-set battle with Kei Nishikori the evening before, breaking three times and holding throughout to secure the title.
Sky Bet reacted by cutting his French Open odds from 7/1 to 9/2, with the Scot having been as long as 12/1 as the start of the European clay-court swing.
Djokovic remains odds-on favourite at 5/6 as he looks to land his first Roland Garros crown and complete the career Grand Slam, while Nadal follows at 4/1 to land an unprecedented 10th title.
Stan Wawrinka is the defending champion after upsetting Djokovic last year but is given an 11/1 chance having won just three matches on the surface in 2016, while Nishikori is the 22/1 fifth favourite after following his his Barcelona Open final loss by reaching the semis in Rome and Madrid.
Roger Federer's hopes of claiming a second title in Paris are all but dismissed at 25/1 as he considers skipping the event amid continued injury struggles.
