ANDY Murray's first clay-court outing might have been short lived but six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes he will never get a better chance to win the French Open than this year.

Murray defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters, having received a bye in the first.

However, the 25-year-old made a catalogue of errors in the third round clash with Stanislas Wawrinka and was booed after falling 6-1, 6-2 – his heaviest defeat in three years.

Having reached No.2 in the world after his win at the Miami Masters last month, Murray has now dropped down to No.3 with Roger Federer back in second place behind Novak Djokovic.

However, Becker isn't worried and believes the form and fitness of rivals Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal is worse than his own – something that will play into his hands at the French Open.

"Clay is not his best surface, he seems to struggle a little bit more, but the top guys right now are in some trouble," said Becker, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open three times.

"Rafael Nadal is still not quite there in my opinion, Roger is getting older and has taken a bit of a sabbatical and Novak lost surprisingly early in Indian Wells and Miami and has picked up an injury.

"So form-wise it looks like at the moment Murray is on top and this year is probably one of, if not the best chance, he will ever get at winning the French Open.

"Most of the players who go into the tournament feeling they have a chance know that with a fully-fit Nadal, who is in form, you are only every going to be second best.

"But with Nadal still on the comeback trail this year there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for players like Andy and he needs to make the most of it.

Murray opted against playing in the Barcelona Open last week with the forthcoming Madrid Masters set to be the scene of his next outing on clay. He will play either Tomasz Bellucci or Florian Mayer in the second round.

Murray will retake the world No.2 spot if Federer fails to retain his title at the Madrid Masters, which is three weeks before the French Open at Roland Garros.

For more information on becoming a Barclays Ball Kid at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London in November, you can visit www.barclaysballkids.com