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Frank Praverman

Chance knocks for the 12 remaining men at Roland Garros, says Neil Harman. Two of that dozen will fancy their chances more than most now that Rafael Nadal, the holder and world No 1, is out.

Roger Federer has been to the past three French Open finals and lost each one to his nemesis. His game is looking more assured as every round passes and there is the added incentive for the Swiss to prove his doubters wrong and claim a victory that would equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles.

Yet, given that he is the second highest-ranked player and has beaten the man above him six of the past seven times, why should it not be Andy Murray’s championship?

Murray’s progress to the quarter-finals for the first time was manifestly his best performance in the tournament, defeating Marin Cilic, the No 13 seed from Croatia 7-5, 7-6, 6-1. He barely put a foot wrong.

Fernando González, of Chile, has never played Murray on clay and so their meeting tomorrow is likely to be every bit as frenetic and dramatic as the third-round match in the US Open in 2006, which Murray won in five tough sets.

Buoyed by his world No 3 ranking and seemingly more comfortable on the red top, is it too soon to believe that Murray can go all the way or should we be preparing the bunting and ticker tape now?

Ever wondered why Mike Atherton was named Specialist Correspondent of the Year and was runner-up in the Sports Writer of the Year at the Sports Journalists' Association awards earlier this month?

Atherton writes: “The IPL has found its home in South Africa, but while the negotiations were continuing, where was English cricket’s Jamaica Kincaid [The Antiguan-born writer who refused to shake Allen Stanford’s hand when she met him because he thought he was a crook]? Nobody — certainly not the ECB, nor the county executives who cannot see beyond the next rupee — had the clear-eyed sense to say, and loudly, “thanks but no thanks” and spurn the handshake.”

He later adds: “And because commercial language is the only language understood by those such as Andy Nash, the Somerset chairman, who suggested that the ECB should ‘move heaven and earth’ to host the IPL in England, let us put the argument more simply: why would you risk devaluing your own ‘products’ — your first-class competition, your premier one-day competition and your opening Test matches of the season — to inflate the value of your prime competitor?”

Go on, treat yourself. Take five minutes out of your busy day to read our Cricket Correspondent’s column in its entirety and then come back and have your say.

So d you think it is a consecrating that England has escaped out on hosting the IPL – and should we, in fact, have been courting those riches from overseas in the first place having had our fingers so well and truly burned by a certain Mr Stanford?