Stick to the grass, Tim, says McEnroe

Tim Henman has been told to forget about the French Open and concentrate on Wimbledon by John McEnroe.

The American, who won seven Grand Slams in his career, does not believe Britain's No1 can repeat his shock success of last year at Roland Garros.

Henman made it to the semifinals last time around before that he had never been beyond the third round in eight attempts.

By contrast, the 30-year-old has been a semi-finalist on Wimbledon's grass four times and McEnroe claims that is where his focus should be this summer.

McEnroe said: "The pressure will be on for a repeat performance but I think it is asking too much. He would be best advised to concentrate on Wimbledon."

Henman was due to open his French Open campaign today against Argentine lucky loser Juan Pablo Brzezicki, 23, who is ranked 146 in the world and competing in his first major.

The Briton, seeded seven, will not be disappointed that his originally scheduled first round opponent, Italian clay court specialist Potito Starace, pulled out with a twisted ankle.

But Henman admitted his preparation for Brzezicki was not complete. He said: "The only thing I know about him is that his name is tricky to write. Apart from that he is a total stranger to me."

Henman is planning to repeat the tactic of getting to the net that served him so well last year.

He added: "You have to believe in your own style. When you look at my statistics throughout the last season, you realise that I didn't overuse the serve-and-volley.

"But it is true that I won many points at the net. This is the key to shine on the clay here. It's the reason why I'm certain that Roger Federer has a great chance to win this tournament."

Britain's other hope in the men's singles at Roland Garros, Greg Rusedski, is in the other half and is due to play Brazilian Flavio Saretta tomorrow .

In the women's singles, Anastasia Myskina will be defending her title with her personal life in turmoil after her mother was understood to have been diagnosed with cancer.

The fifth seed was due to play her first round game against Spaniard Maria Lorenzo Sanchez today. Myskina said: "It's been a pretty hard time but I am a professional tennis player so I have to compete."