ANDY THERE FOR TAKING

Russian eyes big win over out-of-form Brit

ANDREY KUZNETSOV has warned “vulnerable” Andy Murray that past wins won’t intimidate him today.

By his own admission, the world No.1 is nowhere near the form he would like to be in ahead of a Grand Slam, with illness and low confidence affecting his clay-court season so far.

Last year, Murray beat the world No.73 at Beijing and at the US Open. But Kuznetsov is aware that the Scot is in a very different place this time.

He said: “Is there a feeling that he is vulnerable? If you maybe see the results he showed on clay, maybe it’s not his best as he showed last year.

“A few guys like Borna Coric, for example, beat him in Madrid. It shows that it’s possible to beat him.

“I understand that the big guys are preparing for the big tournaments, so maybe it was part of the plan.

“It will be important to start good. If he starts a little bit nervy and shaky and I start with confidence, maybe I can win one set and take a lead in the second.

Happy

“You cannot be on top all your career. Sooner or later, it goes up and down, up and down. He had a very good end of last year. This year maybe not as good as he wanted.”

Murray revealed last week there have been days when he has been so ill he has not been able to get out of bed, but Russian Kuznetsov added: “I’m sure that he will compete like 100 per cent.

“But if in the middle of the match he will retire, I will just be happy.”

There were no such mishaps for two of the tournament favourites yesterday.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic was first on court, beating Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3 6-4 6-2, while Rafa Nadal opened his Roland Garros campaign 55 minutes later.

The Spaniard was just as impressive in his 6-1 6-4 6-1 victory over local favourite Benoit Paire, which did nothing to dissuade the bookmakers from making him their odds-on favourite.

Djokovic, however, is unsure how long his new coach Andre Agassi can stay with him.

The Serb said: “Well, he’s going to stay till the end. Well, I hope till the end of this week. Then he has to leave, because he has some things scheduled already.

“I’m going to try to use the time spent with him as best as I can, as best as we can. This is exactly what I need at this moment.”