Andy Murray must play attacking tennis if he wants to secure his first ever French Open triumph this year, courtesy of the competition's two-time champion Jim Courier.
The British number one recorded a comfortable straight-sets victory over Argentinian opponent Facundo Arguello in his opening round match, and is set to face Portugal's Joao Sousa tomorrow morning with a place in the third round up for grabs. If he manages to beat the World number 44, in an encounter where he is favourite to prevail, he could set up a mouthwatering clashh with Spain's David Ferrer, before possibly facing either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Courier, 44, stated to the media that Andy must play attacking tennis and trust his solid defence if he is going to progress and win the tournament itself. "What we saw in Madrid [where he won] was very enlightening and hopefully it was enlightening for Andy too. It looked like he was playing physically on fumes - playing so many matches meant he didn't really have his legs underneath him in the semis against Kei Nishikori. That forced him to play very aggressive tennis and I think against those types of players, he needs to do that a lot more.
We know his defence is as good as anybody's, his defence is amazing, but I'd like to see him trust his offence as much as he does his defence. When he did that in the semis and the final in Madrid, the results were clear - he played some of the best tennis he's ever played. Against the top players you cannot win by defence alone - they just don't beat themselves. You have to attack them; that's what Andy did in Madrid, and I hope he will do that at this tournament and through the rest of his career."