• French Open

Ito eyes famous Murray scalp

ESPN staff
May 29, 2012
Andy Murray gets his French Open campaign underway on Tuesday © PA Photos
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Tatsuma Ito admits he would enjoy a celebrity status in Japan if he can claim the scalp of Andy Murray at the French Open.

The British No. 1 gets his campaign underway at Roland Garros on Tuesday, when he faces an unknown quantity in the shape of Ito, ranked No. 68 in the world.

Ito admits Murray is the overwhelming favourite, but the Japanese has promised to take the fight to the world No. 4.

"Yes, I would be famous if I won. I will try 100 per cent and fight hard on every point," he said.

"He's a great tennis player. I'll try to do my best, be aggressive on every point. I played against him once before, in doubles. He has a good serve and is difficult to break. It's exciting for me."

Murray, who reached the semi-finals in Paris last year, is confident he knows what to expect from his opponent and is starting to get to grips with the clay again.

"I have seen his game before and hit balls against him," he said. "He's quite a flat hitter of the ball, a pretty good ball striker. But I haven't seen him play loads.

"The movement is the thing that always takes me a while to get used to, but normally after a few weeks that's okay. It's something I always try to work on a little bit when I'm training."

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