Good morning everyone And welcome to theguardian.com's first game-by-game from the French Open. I'm sure you can all appreciate that there is a little extra pressure for us on clay, as some European sites have more experience on the surface, but we're confident that we can get through today's match and look forward to going a lot further in this tournament.

By total coincidence ... Andy Murray has been saying similar things about the pressure on him ahead of this morning's game against Potito Starace. "There's a little bit of extra pressure on clay," said Murray, "because I guess a lot of guys go into the match thinking they can beat me, whereas on other surfaces I've been very tough to beat over the past year." Starace is currently ranked 104th in the world, but clay is undoubtedly his favourite surface. He plays his best tennis from way back behind the baseline and earlier this month reached the quarter-finals in Munich. With all that in mind he's still not that good, has had a pretty mediocre year and was tied at one set-apiece with Mischa Zverev in the first round before the German retired hurt. I expect Murray to see him off in three sets.

What else should you know about Potito Starace? He's a very naughty boy who was banned for six weeks and fined $30,000 back in December 2007 for placing bets on tennis matches. Not ones he was involved in mind, and you might even consider the punishment somewhat harsh, given that he had placed a total of five bets worth all of €90. At the time he was the world No31 and Italian No1, but he has fallen some way since then and - as mentioned earlier - his form over the past year hasn't been all that great.

An email "So, what time does this whole shebang kick off then," demands Matt Thomassi. They're coming out of the dressing rooms right now Matt. It's 14C and cloudy in Paris, if you were wondering.

They're knocking up now ... The crowd at the Philippe Chatrier court currently consists of one man and perhaps half of a dog.

First set: Murray 0-1 Starace* It's not just the crowd who have been slow to rise in Paris as Murray sleep-walks through the first four points - clumping his second forehand long and rapidly falling 40-15 behind before finally rousing himself in time for a rally on the game's final point. Even then, after Murray attacks the net, Starace still manages to win the point with a flicked half-volley that kissed the inside tramline.

First set: Murray* 1-1 Starace That's more like it. Murray holds to 15 with a couple of vicious serves that Starace does well just to get close to.

First set: Murray 1-2 Starace* Murray wastes a couple of break points at 15-40, and Starace then holds, but the Italian needs to work out how he intends to play this one. After shanking one backhand out off his frame of his racket while playing at the baseline, he tried to rush the net far too early on the next point and was easily passed by Murray. He's playing some nice shots when he does get going from the back of the court, though - plenty of pace and clever angles.

First set: Murray* 2-2 Starace Another routine hold to 15 for Murray. Starace really isn't going to get anywhere unless he can get to grips with Murray's first serves.

First set: Murray 3-2 Starace* Starace dispatches a smash right into Murray's mid-section after drawing the Scot to the net with a well-judged drop-shot to bring up 15-15. You wouldn't like Andy when he's angry though, and two points later it's 15-40 after Murray - stumbling and nearly falling as he chases another drop-shot down by his left-hand tramline, somehow manages to dig out a wristy passing shot. Starace brings the game do deuce again, but this time Murray steadies himself and claims the first break.

First set: Murray* 4-2 Starace Another one-sided service game for Murray. Starace actually did manage to get a few serves back that time, to be fair, but even when he did was usually sufficiently off-balance to offer Murray easy enough opportunities to pass him from the back of the court.

First set: Murray 4-3 Starace* Murray follows a bad shot at 15-30 with a very bad word. Starace goes on to hold, though he rarely looked in control of any point on that service game.

First set: Murray* 5-3 Starace Murray holds to love with ease. So far he has dropped a total of three points on serve in this match.

Murray wins the first set 6-3 Here's one lesson Starace can learn from that first set: never attack the net, ever. Pretty much every time he has done so in this match, he has gone on to lose the point, and Murray once again slides a perfect one-handed backhand down the line with Starace stranded up the court to bring up 15-30. Three points later the set is Murray's.

Second set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 1-0 Wow - didn't see that coming. A series of sloppy first serves and tame seconds give Starace an opening which he gratefully accepts, taking the game to 15-40 with a series of violent forehands that seemed to catch Murray off-guard. Murray rouses himself in time to force deuce, though, and eventually rescues the game.

Second set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 1-1 Now Starace holds to love. We just saw the first set stats and Starace actually got 73% of his first serves in compared to just 63% from Murray. The thing is that the ones Murray does get in are an entirely different prospect to those offered up by the Italian.

Second set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 1-2 Once again Murray looks lacklustre on serve - falling 0-30 and then 15-40 behind. He then looks to have rescued himself with some nice old-fashioned serve and volley - bringing up deuce and rescuing two more break points, but then finally succumbs on the third as Starace dispatches a beautiful sliced backhand past Murray as he rushes forward. You can't blame Murray for trying - every one of the points he took in that game were won from the net, after all.

Second set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 1-3 Starace holds to 15 and we appear to have a match on here. "Andy Murray was coached in Spain, plays most of his tennis from the back of the court, is so quick that he's very difficult to put away and reaches more drop shots than most," writes Nath Jones. "Added to that, one of his main weaknesses is his poor second serve, which is less of a problem on clay than any other surface. So why doesn't he like clay?" It's not an easy one to pin down to be honest, Nath. I think a big part of it is mental - and for all that he has been coached on clay you have to bear in mind that Murray plays more often on hard courts and certainly wouldn't have been playing on clay too often when he first started playing the sport. He also tends to prefer a slow game - employing plenty of slice - from the back of the court, whereas a lot of the best clay-court players like Nadal actually play a very aggressive game (even if it is from the back of the court) using lots of heavy topspin. The other element is that Murray may well be over-thinking it - he's brought a lot more variety to his game over the past year, but I've heard it mooted by some ex-pros that the players who do best on clay are those who know their game and stick to it - regardless of the surface. Stefan Edberg, for instance, did well on clay despite being a serve-and-volley guy.

Second set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 1-4 Wow, this is really getting away from Murray now. Broken again to 15, his first-serve percentage has fallen to just 52%, and he changes racket in the middle of this game, then again at the end.

Second set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 1-5 Another comfortable enough hold for Starace, and it looks like Murray may be ready to surrender this set. In the meantime I have bad news for 'Return to Oz' fans - the show has been bumped from the schedules after TV execs realised this match might take more than 40 minutes after all. It will be shown at an enigmatic 'later date'.

Second set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 2-5 Murray holds to love, just to disprove my last entry.

Starace wins the second set 6-2 Starace quickly jumps out to a 40-0 lead, but then seems to get a little complacent himself and allows Murray to bring the game back to deuce. On the next point, though, Murray wings a forehand out between the right-hand tramlines and on the one after that he pats Starace's second serve gently into the net.

Third set: Murray* 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 Starace More unforced errors from Murray, who pounds his forehead with his palm after jabbing the ball into the net again to bring up 30-30. Two big serves and one "COM' ON!!" later, however, he does manage to hold.

Third set: Murray 6-3, 2-6, 1-1 Starace* Starace holds to 30, but this is more like it from Murray, who takes one Starace serve and biffs it straight back with a trademark two-handed backhand down the line. He then looks to be in charge of the rally at 30-30 before taking a fall as he chases another measured drop-shot. He doesn't seem to be badly hurt.

Third set: Murray* 6-3, 2-6, 1-2 Starace Time to give some credit to Starace, who has played some genuinely magnificent shots here and none more so than the forehand with which he returns one first serve right onto the baseline about an inch from Murray's toes to bring up 30-30. Two points later he sends a perfect backhand lob over the onrushing Brit, and the first break of the second set is his.

Third set: Murray 6-3, 2-6, 1-3 Starace* Murray changes his shirt but Starace still holds to love. If there was any one shot you would say that Murray usually loves his opponents to play it's the dropshot, as few can match the Scot for speed over his first few steps, but Starace has used it time and again here and somehow it always seems to work.

Third set: Murray* 6-3, 2-6, 1-4 Starace A loud gasp from the Phillipe Chatrier crowd - still only about 2/3 full, if that - as Murray finds the net again to bring up 15-40. Starace wastes his first break point, driving a forehand wide, but claims the second. Murray is in all sorts of trouble here.

Third set: Murray 6-3, 2-6, 1-5 Starace* Not nearly enough fight from Murray, who is racking up the unforced errors now and allows Starace to hold to love.

Third set: Murray* 6-3, 2-6, 2-5 Starace Murray holds, but only after letting a 30-0 become 30-40 in a flurry of unforced errors. You would say his best hope is that Starace runs out of steam as the match goes on, but at the moment Murray's not even making his opponent break a sweat.

Third set: Murray 6-3, 2-6, 3-5 Starace* That's more like it from Murray. He still looks ragged, but for the first time in a few games he also looks dogged - chasing down a number of attempted passing shots and just finding a way to get them back over the net. That was enough to force Starace into errors of his own, and eventually to force the break. Is there life in this set yet?

Third set: Murray* 6-3, 2-6, 4-5 Starace Murray is forced to save another set point, blasting a delicious cross-court forehand to the baseline with such ferocity that Starace barely even bothered to move. Two points later, he manages to hold.

Third set: Murray 6-3, 2-6, 5-5 Starace* How's this for a comeback? Murray breaks Starace to love, with each and every point followed by a fist pump and fresh bellow of delight. Suddenly Murray is playing with aggression and conviction again, and Starace doesn't know how to handle it.

Third set: Murray* 6-3, 2-6, 6-5 Starace Absolutely stunning from Murray, who holds to 15. He was trying to force Starace wide with his first serve earlier in the match, but in the last two games he's taken to firing them straight down the middle of the court, and the switch seems to have caught Starace off-guard. Then again, belting passing shots like the two-handed backhand with which Murray brought up 30-0 seem to be doing a fair bit to unsettle the Italian too.

Murray wins the third set 7-5 A sixth straight game for Murray - unbelievable in the context of how he was playing earlier in the set, and Starace throws his racket to the ground in disgust. He's a hot little Potito right now (ah leave off, I waited three whole sets to use that one). Lame puns aside, Starace genuinely does seem to have lost his composure. Murray actually didn't manage to win many points in that last game, but once again he just made it his business to keep getting the ball back over the net knowing that eventually Starace would lose the points himself.

Fourth set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 Murray has started trying to use the drop-shot a little more himself - not a bad policy given how bad Starace has been at the net. His latest effort was actually pretty poor, hit with too much power and landing comfortably within reaching distance for Starace half-way up the court, but the Italian didn't do enough with it and found himself stranded as Murray fizzes a cross-court shot across his face and away to the far corner of the court.

Fourth set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 1-1 A straightforward hold to 15 for Starace - which he desperately needed after dropping his last three service games in succession. "I left the office as Murray went 5-1 down, just came back to see him win 7-5," chimes Matt Thomassi. "Should I venture out again?" Well on the one hand Matt, I can't see Murray losing this now wherever you happen to be sitting. On the other hand, you might just hate your job - in which case go for it.

Fourth set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 2-1 Starace is making Murray's life difficult again, battling his way to deuce and defying the Brit's repeated attempts to force him onto his backhand. In the end, though, Murray prevails.

Fourth set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 2-2 Starace holds to 15, and both players look like they're just beginning to flag a little bit with this match now more than two and a quarter hours old. Apparently Murray has won 101 points so far this match, to Starace's 100.

Fourth set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-2 And Murray responds by holding to love. He's got his first serve firing again - in the third set he got over 70% in and I'd imagine he's looking at a similar figure here in the fourth - and even on clay it has more than enough pace to make Starace's life very difficult indeed.

Fourth set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-3 I would love to see a statistic for how many points Starace has won in this match with drop-shots. He looked to be in trouble after falling 15-30 behind, but once again ended a huge baseline rally by dropping the ball just outside Murray's range. The game still goes to deuce, but two points later Starace opens his body up to punch a half-court forehand past Murray to hold serve.

Fourth set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 4-3 Murray responds to a shaky service game from Starace with a supremely confident one of his own - never even giving the Italian a sniff as he holds to love.

Fourth set: Murray leads Starace* 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 4-4 At which point, of course, Starace comes right back and holds without dropping a point himself.

Fourth set: Murray* leads Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 5-4 Who is going to blink first here? Murray holds to 15, and after a third set in which Murray was broken twice and Starace three times, we now have a fourth in which nobody has come particularly close to dropping serve through the first nine games.

Murray beats Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 There are times when Murray's winners make you gasp at his sheer athleticism involved, and there are others when they make you purr at his apparent nonchalance. He forces deuce with three of the latter here, beating Starace time and again with almost identical passing forehands - hit down the line without any great force but timed to perfection and placed exactly where they needed to be. Starace rescues two match points but eventually, inevitably, Murray took the third with a blistering cross-court forehand. He will face either Janko Tipsarevic or Feliciano Lopez in the next round. Thanks for all your emails.