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Underdog status can be huge inspiration for Andy Murray at the French Open

Andy Murray and his coach, Ivan Lendl, preparing for the French Open.
Andy Murray and his coach, Ivan Lendl, preparing for the French Open. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

Andy Murray finds himself in the peculiar position of being the highest-ranked player yet considered behind Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka in discussions about the French Open, which starts on Sunday.

Nadal, correctly, is an odds-on favourite to win a record 10th title here, although he probably will have a semi-final against the defending champion, Djokovic who, since Murray displaced him as world No 1 six months ago, has slowly rediscovered some of his old magic and brings a new coach to Paris, in Andre Agassi.

Wawrinka, who is in Murray’s side of the draw, warmed up in fine style with victory in the Geneva Open on Saturday. Alexander Zverev, narrowly beaten by Wawrinka in that final but still the most exciting young player in the game, is also in Murray’s half, as is the mercurial Nick Kyrgios.

Nadal is 17-1 on clay this year, free of injury and playing his best tennis in five years. He turns 31 during the tournament and could not be more content, having withdrawn after two quick wins a year ago to heal a lingering damaged wrist that wrecked his season.

So, as is invariably the way in this crazy sport, they all have problems to a lesser or greater degree – and they know how to cope. They have all been managing the physical and mental stress of the game for so long it is second nature to them.

None of this fazes Murray. He might even agree with the downbeat assessment of his chances. Many good judges do. Yet whatever the strength of concerns about his health and form, he has been hurled back to where he has often been most dangerous: as underdog.

It is easily forgotten that this most obdurate of Scots won an Olympic gold medal and two of his three majors with a bad back; for most of his life, he has also coped with split kneecaps and structural weaknesses in his right wrist and ankle. But he has used these frailties as motivation rather than excuses and, on the eve of the second slam of the season, he finds himself the subject of old doubts yet again.

“I’m not worried about it,” he said, “more frustrated because there’s so much stop-starting. You have to take a couple of days off because you are not feeling too well or have a bit of trouble with the elbow. That’s just frustrating. I’ve also been pretty fortunate throughout my career, barring the back injury.”

Perhaps it is the national inclination towards glumness that leads some to doubt if Murray can even get out of the first week. Some say he could struggle first up, against the Russian world No85, Andrey Kuznetsov, who took a set off him at the US Open four years ago, but a mere three games when they last met, in Beijing last year. Kuznetsov pushed Wawrinka to a second-set tie-break before losing in the semi-finals in Geneva in Friday, so he is in good shape and has a solid clay game. Oddsmakers, unlike the doomsayers, have Murray at 1-6.

One of the more fanciful rumours circulating Roland Garros after the draw on Friday was that the Scot had glandular fever.

When it was put to him, he shrugged and smiled: “Not that I’m aware of.” He was concerned, though. “After I got back from Miami when I was ill, I had blood tests. I was really sick for two days in Miami. I was in bed. I couldn’t move. I had a sore stomach. I was sweating, sore head, temperature.

“When I got back I had tests and they showed I had suffered shingles earlier in the year. But I did not have any tests then [in Melbourne]. The [later] blood tests showed that everything else was fine. I did have tests for glandular fever and got the all clear.”

Anyone who has suffered from that energy-draining disease will testify that the effects can linger for months or years. Mono, as it is colloquially known on the circuit, has been a minor scourge in tennis in recent years, finishing the career of Robin Soderling, the first player to beat Nadal at Roland Garros, and cutting down Mario Ancic and Roger Federer in 2008, Andy Roddick in 2010, Lara Arruabarrena in 2013, Heather Watson and Petra Kvitova in 2015, as well as Jarmila Wolfe (nee Gajdosova) and Christina McHale.

As Murray explained, it is impossible to avoid picking up viruses in crowded, sweaty locker rooms and when confined on long-haul flights between venues around the world. Yet, he is upbeat. There were times when such spirit-sapping dips would affect his mood dramatically, but marriage and fatherhood have noticeably changed that. His daughter, Sophia, is an inspiration to him and maybe reflects a little of his own character, although he is not so sure. “She’s walking, talking a little bit,” he said, “throwing a few more tantrums than when she was a baby.”

The idea of Murray having a child who throws tantrums might once have made the lead-in to a poor punch line, although he insists Sophia, who has not long turned one, gets it from her mother, Kim. What both have given him is stability and perspective. He will need plenty of that this week and, if the pessimists are wrong, possibly next.