Andy Murray will arrive at the All England Club later this summer groaning under the weight of national expectation but at Roland Garros the story couldn't be more different.

Indeed he insists the pressure is off, highlighting his mixed record on clay and the fact his best previous performance is a third round defeat 12 months ago.

"My first aim is to improve on last year and get to the second week," he said, following a 6-4, 6-7, 10-8 defeat in a far from strenuous exhibition match against Paul-Henri Mathieu.

But don't be fooled. Murray - who honed his baseline skills as a raw-boned teenager on the red-dirt clay courts of the S'nchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona - will have loftier targets.

The world number three has shown a great improvement on his least favoured surface in recent Masters 1000 events - reaching the semi-finals at Monte Carlo and the last eight in Madrid.

The Scot also knows a successful run in Paris could also see him overtake Roger Federer as world number two.

If the Scot makes the last four - as he'll be seeded to do - Federer must match that performance just to stay above him and any failure on his part would give the All England Club seedings committee a real headache.

"I've played better on clay than ever before this season," added Murray, who is being advised by two-time French Open finalist Alex Corretja.

"My ranking means I'll have a better draw than last year and that might help but they'll be some dangerous players floating around, so we'll have to see how that goes."