• World No1 had two epic battles with Argentinian last year • Murray aims to be tough on Del Potro in French Open third round

Andy Murray believes he and Juan Martín del Potro left an equal number of psychological bruises on each other in two epic five-set matches last year but he discounts the notion he is not playing well enough to beat the Argentinian in the third round of the French Open on Saturday.

“The Davis Cup [which Del Potro won] was physically tough for me because it came off the back of a long summer,” Murray said after a four-set struggle to get past the world No50 Martin Klizan on Thursday. “The Olympics [which went Murray’s way] was physically and mentally hard – and psychologically but I had also come off a period of rest and trained and prepared for it. When we got to the Davis Cup, I’d played the Olympics, gone to Cincinnati and then New York. That was tough. After that I didn’t feel great for the next couple of days, [playing] the doubles and singles.

Andy Murray made to work by Martin Klizan in French Open four-set win Read more

“But he also will remember those matches. They weren’t easy for him, either, they were tough. I will try to make it the same for him again on Saturday.”

For insight from close to the Murray camp but sufficiently detached to lend perspective, his brother Jamie was the go-to source on Friday, after his own doubles success with Bruno Soares: 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) in an hour and 21 minutes over the Russians Mikhail Elgin and Karen Khachanov.

“He has had a rough year from a results point of view, but also because his health has not been good at all,” the elder Murray brother said. “He has been really unlucky. He had shingles, then he had his elbow stuff and then he has been ill in Miami and ill again here. He has been ill in between that. So it has not been easy – he has not had a clear run at anything. I think that has been frustrating for him.

“He has been unfortunate but things can turn around fast. If he has a great tournament here, he can feel great going on to grass and have a great Wimbledon. In six weeks’ time, you guys will be writing that he is great again. Things can change fast.”

Nor did he share the downbeat assessment of his brother’s chances at Roland Garros. Greg Rusedski, the former British No1, said if Murray played as poorly as he did against Klizan he would struggle to beat Del Potro – which is a fair enough view – but Jamie sees an upside.

“If he keeps winning, his tournament can change quickly. He has not played amazingly in the first two matches but he is winning – that is what matters at the start of a tournament. You can see in the doubles here, all the seeds are losing so all you can do is keep trying to win and take advantage of that if you get the chance.

“But that stuff happens in grand slams. If he can hang around long enough and he finds himself in the quarters or semi-finals, he knows what it takes to win those matches.”

That is true. Last year, Murray survived two five-set matches at the start and reached the final against Novak Djokovic. The players at the very top of the game have gears the others do not. If Murray gets into the second week of the tournament and has shaken off the last dregs of the cold that laid him low at the start of this week, he will be as dangerous as a world No1 should be.

Murray Sr said Kyle Edmund’s excellent run into the third round will be mutually beneficial to them, as well. Edmund looked superb on Thursday beating Renzo Olivo in three sets, after the Argentinian’s heroic performance to put Jo-Wilfried Tsonga out of the tournament. Edmund will play the hard-serving South African Kevin Anderson on Saturday.

“From my point of view, if he is doing well in a tournament and Kyle or Dan [Evans] or the girls are doing well, it is cool. You can kind of feed off that a bit. It is a nice atmosphere to have somebody else to root for in the tournament. I am sure everybody else likes that as well.”

Nevertheless, Murray might find it tougher beating Del Potro than Edmund will against Anderson. The British pair can only meet in the semi-finals … but that is a dream for later.