CASSIUS CLAY; FRENCH OPEN ANDY'S FIRED UP: Murray: I'm ready to KO Nadal, Fed and Djok.

Byline: NEIL McLEMAN

ANDY MURRAY has warned he is now the real deal on clay and is ready to take Rafa Nadal and the rest all the way at the French Open.

World No.3 Murray has never got past the third round at Roland Garros, but the Scot is enjoying his best ever season on clay.

And Nadal, who has never lost in Paris as he seeks a record fifth consecutive title here, proved by winning Wimbledon that great players can conquer any surface.

"I have now showed I can play very well on clay," said Murray, 22, after thrashing clay-court specialist Juan Ignacio Chela.

"If I played like that against Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic or Rafa, I don't think I'm going to lose easily against them.

"I felt like I was moving very well against Chela.

"Last year coming in, it wasn't like I felt terrible, it's just that I hadn't played that well to start the year. This year I feel stronger physically, I've won way more matches and I'm ranked a lot higher too, so I have a bit more confidence in my game.

"The more matches I play on clay the more I understand how to win, how to move and the best way to beat certain opponents.

"Tactically I've always been very good but it's a little bit tougher for me on this surface, and now I think I am starting to find that." Don't put the mortgage on Murray's second round match against Potito Starace tomorrow lasting too long.

The 27-year-old Italian, who was banned for six weeks and fined pounds 21,400 last year for betting on matches, is hardly talking up his chances. "It will not be easy because Andy is a big, big player," said the world No.77.

Nadal, who is seeded to meet Murray in the last four, set a new men's record of 29 consecutive wins at this Grand Slam yesterday with a 7-5 6-4 6-3 victory over Marcos Daniel. And he needs one more win to beat Chris Evert's overall record. She was unbeaten in Paris in the women's singles between 1974 and 1981.

Men's No.2 seed Federer overcame Alberto Martin 6-4 6-3 6-2. On a humid day in Paris, the British women could not stand the heat as all three withered in the first round.

British No.1 Anne Keothavong was humiliated by Russian world No.1 Dinara Safina 6-0 6-0 in only 61 minutes. "I'm not going to slit my wrists or anything," said the 25-year-old Londoner. "In the end, you have to find ways to laugh about it. What else is there to do?" Melanie South succumbed to shrieking 16-year-old Michelle Larcher De Brito 0-6 7-6 7-5. And Katie O'Brien completed the hat-trick of defeats by losing 6-1 6-1 to Bulgarian Olga Govortsova.

The last British woman to win a match at Roland Garros was Clare Wood in 1994.

CAPTION(S):

UP FOR A FIGHT Murray believes he has the ability to beat Nadal (below) on clay