PARIS (Reuters) - Shorn of confidence and recovering from illness and injury, Andy Murray will hope he can avoid becoming part of an historic French Open double act when he faces in-form Russian Andrey Kuznetsov on Tuesday. Memories are still fresh of Sunday's defeat in Paris of Murray's rankings counterpart Angelique Kerber - the first opening-round loss at Roland Garros by a women's world number one since the sport turned professional in 1968. The fact she lost to another Russian, Ekaterina Makarova, may give Kuznetsov a boost when he and the Scot contest the second match on the main Phillipe Chatrier showcourt. Murray has also won both his matches against Kuznetsov - but the Russian will certainly be no pushover. Ranked 73, Kuznetsov reached the semi final of last week's Geneva open, beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas - himself a winner over Murray in April in Monte Carlo - before going down in two close sets to eventual winner Stan Wawrinka.

Source: The Star May 30, 2017 00:56 UTC