Andy Murray believes he is in the best clay-court form of his career as the British number one pursues a first French Open title in Paris.
Murray won his maiden clay-court title in Munich earlier this month and followed that up by beating Rafael Nadal in Madrid, his first ever win on the surface against the nine-time French Open champion.
A difficult draw placed Murray in the same half as both Nadal and top seed Novak Djokovic but the Scot, who opens up against Argentine qualifier Facundo Arguello, can take confidence from his recent success.
"It's probably the best I have played on clay, for sure," Murray said.
"I never really felt particularly comfortable on the surface. Sometimes by the time I got to the French Open I started to feel good, but obviously winning tournaments and beating good players helps with the confidence.
"I just feel like I have an idea of what I'm doing on the court.
"Sometimes in the past I have not really known what was happening on the court and felt like I was struggling with my movement.
"This year it doesn't feel like that. I feel like I'm moving well. I feel a lot freer on the court, my body feels good. That's positive."
Nadal has lost only once in 10 years at Roland Garros but injuries, illness and a string of disappointing results have seen the Spaniard slip to seventh in the world rankings.
Djokovic, in contrast, has already picked up five tournament victories in 2015 but while Murray believes the Serb is now favourite, he says it would be foolish to count Nadal out.
"(Nadal's form) changes things. Novak for me goes into the tournament as the favourite now," said Murray.
"But on that court Rafa's record is ridiculous.
"It's completely possible that he gets out there and feels great, especially if he gets himself into the tournament and wins his first few matches.
"He's going to feel better and better. He obviously loves the conditions here, although the courts this week have been extremely slow.
"If it gets warmer and starts to speed up, obviously he loves the conditions here.
"It would be stupid to write him off or suggest that he can't win the event - it's definitely possible that he could do that."
If he beats Arguello, Murray may also have to overcome Australia's Nick Kyrgios, American John Isner and Spanish clay-court specialist David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.
Britain's Aljaz Bedene drew Austria's promising 21-year-old Dominic Thiem while in the women's draw, Heather Watson plays French wildcard Mathilde Johansson, ranked 224th in the world.
British qualifiers Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund are also into the first round. Konta faces Czech Denisa Allertova and Edmund is up against France's Stephane Robert.
Source: PA
