Identity is a problem for Murray
MATS WILANDER believes Andy Murray is suffering from an “identity crisis” before he starts his French Open campaign today. And the world No 1’s first opponent Andrey Kuznetsov wants to make the out-of-sorts Scot really sick by knocking him out in the opening round. Murray added a bout of flu to his woes last week after a terrible start to the season where he has also suffered from shingles and an elbow injury – and lost five of his last 10 matches. The Wimbledon champion admits he has struggled for motivation after topping the rankings at the end of last year. The size of his task here was shown yesterday when defending champion Novak Djokovic and favourite Rafa Nadal won in straight sets. And three-time champion Wilander said: “With Murray, I would say that we are talking about a little identity crisis. “Maybe not even he believed he would remain at the top and maybe he was not mentally prepared to handle the pressure.” That is certainly the case today for world No 85 Kuznetsov. The Russian has lost their two previous meetings – the last in China in October when Murray was starting a run of five consecutive tournament wins. “In Beijing Andy was playing very good and he was on fire, beating everybody,” he said. “It will feel different this time. I know that I can win if I play good.” Anqelique Kerber became the first female No 1 seed to lose in the first round on Sunday. Stefan Edberg is the only male top seed to fall at the first hurdle in 1990.