A karaoke machine has found its way into the grounds of Roland Garros, and as a favour to the host broadcasters, Andy Murray picked up a microphone, put on a giant black frizzy wig, pretended that the wooden racket under his arm was a guitar, and sung along to The Jackson Five's I Want You Back.

As self-critical as ever, Murray would like the opportunity to re-record his vocals, but whether he pops into the studio again will depend on how he does on the clay of Court Suzanne Lenglen, in the first round against Richard Gasquet, of France on Monday.

Thankfully, Gasquet did not break into song to pass on his pre-tournament message, which was that he will not feel any pressure, that he will be swinging freely. Oh, yeah.

Over the past fortnight, Gasquet has been winning matches across France, with success at a second-tier Challenger event in Bordeaux and then on Saturday in Nice he defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco to score his first trophy on the main circuit for three years. But let's just see how long that sense of freedom lasts in Paris.

Perhaps Gasquet, on his first appearance in the French capital for three years, really will play some uninhibited tennis and rip into his shots against the Scot. But, in the past, Gasquet has not produced his best at Roland Garros, with only four victories in six visits, almost as if, on first catching sight of the treetops, his confidence disappears into the shrubbery of the Bois de Boulogne. It is not yet clear which Gasquet we are going to get against Murray on Monday afternoon.

A beta male with some alpha talent in his racket arm, Gasquet is an introvert, a cosseted only child who does not want to be a star like the other young Frenchmen, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. There is nothing that makes him more uncomfortable on a tennis court than the feeling that the Parisians are expecting great things from his strings. And they undoubtedly are this time.

Gasquet did not play here in 2008 because of injury, and he was suspended from last season's championships as a consequence of his infamous 'Cocaine Kisses Controversy', and on Sunday he sounded like a player trying to convince himself that he would not be walking on to the dirt carrying a kitbag loaded up with pressure and expectation. It is just as well that Gasquet has not been pushed into that karaoke booth and been forced to perform Queen's Under Pressure, as he might have fled the city.

Murray had said that Gasquet was the favourite: Gasquet patted that status back at him. "Murray is the favourite. He is four in the world. I have nothing to lose against him, as he is one of the best players in the world. I am very positive because I won in Nice but I am terribly tired too. So I haven't got a lot of pressure on me because he is the favourite.

"I didn't play for the last two years. I won a tournament now, so, as I say, there is no pressure at all. I have no injuries, either. My confidence is high. He's a great player, but I will try my best," said Gasquet, a former world No 7 and a Wimbledon semi-finalist in the summer of 2007. "The only certainty is that I won't feel any pressure. I want to have some fun."

For whatever reason, the most interesting of all the first-round matches will be played on the second largest arena and not on centre
stage, on Court Philippe Chatrier. If Gasquet had had his way, this would have been played tomorrow, giving him an extra day's recovery after his exertions on the Côte d'Azur.

Gasquet, who needed a third-set tie-break to beat Verdasco, and who had treatment to his leg during the match, had asked the tournament referee at Roland Garros whether a delay was possible, but he did not hear the answer he wanted.

When Gasquet came to Roland Garros on Sunday, he had a light training session, practising for only 25 minutes.

It had been widely supposed that Ernests Gulbis, a young Latvian, had the ability to make a nuisance of himself at this year's French Open, but he did not even make it to the first Monday of the tournament after he retired from his opening match against France's Julien Benneteau because of a leg injury.

Wimbledon Championships Hospitality
Corporate Hospitality Group

A karaoke machine has found its way into the grounds of Roland Garros, and as a favour to the host broadcasters, Andy Murray picked up a microphone, put on a giant black frizzy wig, pretended that the wooden racket under his arm was a guitar, and sung along to The Jackson Five's I Want You Back.

As self-critical as ever, Murray would like the opportunity to re-record his vocals, but whether he pops into the studio again will depend on how he does on the clay of Court Suzanne Lenglen, in the first round against Richard Gasquet, of France on Monday.

Thankfully, Gasquet did not break into song to pass on his pre-tournament message, which was that he will not feel any pressure, that he will be swinging freely. Oh, yeah.

Over the past fortnight, Gasquet has been winning matches across France, with success at a second-tier Challenger event in Bordeaux and then on Saturday in Nice he defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco to score his first trophy on the main circuit for three years. But let's just see how long that sense of freedom lasts in Paris.

Perhaps Gasquet, on his first appearance in the French capital for three years, really will play some uninhibited tennis and rip into his shots against the Scot. But, in the past, Gasquet has not produced his best at Roland Garros, with only four victories in six visits, almost as if, on first catching sight of the treetops, his confidence disappears into the shrubbery of the Bois de Boulogne. It is not yet clear which Gasquet we are going to get against Murray on Monday afternoon.

A beta male with some alpha talent in his racket arm, Gasquet is an introvert, a cosseted only child who does not want to be a star like the other young Frenchmen, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. There is nothing that makes him more uncomfortable on a tennis court than the feeling that the Parisians are expecting great things from his strings. And they undoubtedly are this time.

Gasquet did not play here in 2008 because of injury, and he was suspended from last season's championships as a consequence of his infamous 'Cocaine Kisses Controversy', and on Sunday he sounded like a player trying to convince himself that he would not be walking on to the dirt carrying a kitbag loaded up with pressure and expectation. It is just as well that Gasquet has not been pushed into that karaoke booth and been forced to perform Queen's Under Pressure, as he might have fled the city.

Murray had said that Gasquet was the favourite: Gasquet patted that status back at him. "Murray is the favourite. He is four in the world. I have nothing to lose against him, as he is one of the best players in the world. I am very positive because I won in Nice but I am terribly tired too. So I haven't got a lot of pressure on me because he is the favourite.

"I didn't play for the last two years. I won a tournament now, so, as I say, there is no pressure at all. I have no injuries, either. My confidence is high. He's a great player, but I will try my best," said Gasquet, a former world No 7 and a Wimbledon semi-finalist in the summer of 2007. "The only certainty is that I won't feel any pressure. I want to have some fun."

For whatever reason, the most interesting of all the first-round matches will be played on the second largest arena and not on centre
stage, on Court Philippe Chatrier. If Gasquet had had his way, this would have been played tomorrow, giving him an extra day's recovery after his exertions on the Côte d'Azur.

Gasquet, who needed a third-set tie-break to beat Verdasco, and who had treatment to his leg during the match, had asked the tournament referee at Roland Garros whether a delay was possible, but he did not hear the answer he wanted.

When Gasquet came to Roland Garros on Sunday, he had a light training session, practising for only 25 minutes.

It had been widely supposed that Ernests Gulbis, a young Latvian, had the ability to make a nuisance of himself at this year's French Open, but he did not even make it to the first Monday of the tournament after he retired from his opening match against France's Julien Benneteau because of a leg injury.

Wimbledon Championships Hospitality
Corporate Hospitality Group