2017 French Open, Andy Murray
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - 30/5/17 Great Britain's Andy Murray in action during his first round match against Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov Reuters / Christian Hartmann

World No. 1 Andy Murray acknowledges that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the overwhelming favourites to win the ongoing French Open. However, the Scot isn't willing to throw the towel just yet and reckons he has the skill set and needed experience to go the distance at this year's Roland Garros.

On Tuesday, Murray began his 2017 French Open campaign with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory Russian Andrey Kuznetsov. Amazingly, it was only his fifth victory since February. Murray had a career year in 2016, reaching the finals of the first three Grand Slams besides winning the Wimbledon and ATP World Tour Finals. That amazing stretch propelled Murray to World No. 1 status but illness and injury have contributed to his poor form in recent months. A week before the French Open, Murray was affected by a viral illness.

''It definitely got better as it went on. I started to move a bit better towards the end. I was hitting the ball better when I was defending. That's something the last few weeks I haven't done so well and didn't start off the match doing particularly well. It was a decent start, considering obviously how I played in the build-up. I still think I can do some things a bit better than I did today, obviously. I will try to keep that going," a confident Murray said after Tuesday's victory, via ESPN.

Should Andy Murray have skipped 2017 French Open?

Meanwhile, former World No. 4 Greg Rusedski is of the opinion that Murray should have skipped the French Open and allowed his mind and body to heal and be fresh for the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Roger Federer skipped the entire clay-court season with an eye on the grass court tournaments that follow.

"Coming into the French I don't know if he's really ready because he must be a little bit fatigued, mentally and physically, because of what he's had to endure this year. Any No. 1 in the world, with shingles and the injury he has had, would not be able to sustain it, it's just not humanly possible," said Rusedski, another tennis great from the United Kingdom.

Andy Murray will now face Slovakia's Martin Klizan in the second round of the 2017 French Open on Thursday. Klizan progressed to the Round of 64 via a controversial 7-6 (4), 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 win over Frenchman Laurent Lokoli, who refused to shake Klizan's hands after suffering defeat.