Advantage Murray as Gasquet delay plea falls on deaf ears

Gasquet asked tournament referee Stefan Fransen to move the clash from today to Tuesday after he suffered a leg injury winning his first ATP title in more than three years at the weekend.

But Fransen refused to make an exception for the Frenchman, who beat Fernando Verdasco at the Nice Open on Saturday

afternoon.

Gasquet is understood to be upset with the decision, claiming before a second appeal was turned down that it would be unfair to force him to play within a day of his arrival in Paris from France's south coast.

However, moving his and Murray's match to Tuesday would almost certainly have meant the victor playing two days in succession at some point during the tournament.

It is unclear how seriously Gasquet's left leg is troubling him, although he twice required on-court treatment during Saturday's 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7/5) win.

That result was a 10th victory in a row for the former world

No 7, who won a Challenger event in Bordeaux last week.

After falling to 68th in the rankings following injury and a ban for inadvertently taking cocaine, Murray's fellow 23-year-old is coming into form at just the wrong time for the Scot.

However, Saturday's win saw him demonstrate the mental fragility that cost him dearly in the pair's last meeting at Wimbledon two years ago, when Gasquet squandered a two-set lead.

He claims to be feeling good ahead of today's match but is taking nothing for granted against world No 4 Murray.

"This run in Nice has made my confidence return," he said.

"The fact I have put 10 victories together in two weeks has made all the difference, but I know Murray is going to be tough.

"Murray reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year and also made the semi-finals in Monte Carlo (this month).

"So, in my view, he is one of the top 10 to 15 players on clay."

Murray holds the edge in what is a daunting encounter, according to a man who witnessed both players' meteoric rise through the junior ranks.

Great Britain's new Davis Cup captain Leon Smith coached Murray from the ages of 11 to 15, at a time when Gasquet was rewriting the record books.

The Frenchman was still 15 when he became the youngest player to qualify for a Masters event just over eight years ago.

Gasquet went on to become the youngest player to win a tour-level main draw match since 1988 and the second-youngest male to compete in the main draw at the French Open.

A year later, he was the youngest player to finish a season inside the ATP top 100.

Smith said of the precocious Frenchman: "We saw a bit of Gasquet growing up but he jumped through the seeds so quickly that he actually moved out of junior tennis at pace.

"Obviously, the matches we saw when he was younger, he was incredibly talented. The backhand stood out by a mile. He was one of the youngest guys to win on the tour.

"He's a good talent and even though his ranking has dropped he's still one of the most talented players on the tour."

On Britain's great hope over the next fortnight, Smith added: "Andy's back to playing well, too, and he looks confident. He's obviously done a lot of hard work. It's a great match-up. It's a good match to have first round and I'm sure it's going to be a big crowd. It's a tough first-round match but it's a great match. Andy will still be favourite."

Ernests Gulbis was the highest-profile casualty on day one of the French Open after he was forced to retire against home favourite Julien Benneteau.

Latvian Gulbis had been tipped as a dark horse for the title at Roland Garros after beating Roger Federer at the Rome Masters earlier this month.

But the 23rd seed was unable to recover from a thigh injury which required a trip to hospital.

He retired at 6-4 6-2 1-0 down in his first-round match having been outplayed by his French opponent.

Venus Williams overcame major problems with her serve to reach the second round.

The five-time Wimbledon champion was broken three times by Patty Schnyder – twice to love – on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

But her famed court coverage meant she broke herself on six occasions and ran out a 6-3 6-3 winner.