Top seed Andy Murray takes on Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov in the opening round of French Open 2017 at the Roland Garros Stadium on Tuesday.
The Scot, who has had a woeful season on dirt so far, will look to return to winning ways at the tournament, in which he kickstarted his dream run last season with a run to the final. The world number one has been fortunate enough to find himself in the other half of the draw that has Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, two of the favourites to go the distance in the ongoing tournament.
However, with a 5-4 record on clay this season and concerns due to illness, Murray faces an uphill task of emulating his last year's run. After facing a first-round exit at Rome earlier this month, the Scot is facing a tricky opening-round test against in-form Kuznetsov.
Except for his run to the semi-final in Barcelona, Murray has not been able to get past the second-round of clay-court tournaments this season, which is in contrast to his performances on clay last season.
A 2-0 head-to-head record over Kuznetsov will give the Scot the confidence he needs to face his first-round opponent on Tuesday. However, both those wins have come on hard courts and the 26-year-old Russian has a better record on the dirt than Murray this season.
Kuznetsov is also heading into the tournament after reaching the semi-final in Geneva last week, edging past the likes of Thomaz Bellucci and Ramos-Vinolas enroute. While he has to punch above his weight to stand a chance against Murray, the Russian will look to exploit the Scot's poor form and add to his woes.
