Andy Murray has set his sights on a farewell appearance at this year’s French Open, only his second outing at Roland Garros in six years.

The former world No1 is targeting a return to the world’s top 32 in a bid to be seeded for the Grand Slams, and boosted his chances with a hard-fought victory over Lorenzo Sonego in the opening round at the Qatar Open.

The 35-year-old has the opportunity to further improve those seeding chances against Alexander Zverev on Wednesday afternoon.

“My plan just now is to play in Rome, Madrid and hopefully the French Open providing my body is good,” he said.

In Pictures | Andy Murray

“I’ll do a training block after Miami on the clay, I’m going to do that in Europe somewhere for three or four weeks. I’ll train, try and get my body used to the clay courts and monitor how my body is feeling.”

Murray’s last appearance at the French Open in 2020 – when far from fully fit – resulted in a one-sided loss to Stan Wawrinka.

“Physically, I was not good the year I played against Wawrinka,” he said. “I’d like to get the opportunity to play it one more time before I stop playing. While I feel physically really good, I would like to play there again.”

Murray has enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 season notably in marathon matches at the Australian Open against Matteo Berrettini and Thanis Kokkinakis before losing in four sets to Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

Qatar is his first tournament since Australia. And reflecting on his performances Down Under, Murray said: “What I did in Australia gave me lots of belief in my physical state. Putting all the work I did in the off-season and continuing that after the Australian Open has really helped.”