Tennis’ busy European season is in full swing with the French Open looming and grass not far away.

The world’s best players are travelling to Roland Garros ahead of the year’s second grand slam beginning on Sunday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the current tennis picture.

How is 2023 shaping up for British players?

More downs than ups so far. Cameron Norrie had an impressive start to the season, including winning his second biggest title in Rio, but has not been at his best on the European clay so far. Emma Raducanu had some moments of encouragement but is now out long term after three surgeries, while Andy Murray produced heroics at the Australian Open but remains inconsistent and is skipping the French Open. Dan Evans has been up and down but continues to maintain his place in the top 25.

How will the time out affect Raducanu?

It is hard to say but many observers believe it could be beneficial in the long run for the 20-year-old to have time away from the court. It has been a difficult 18 months since Raducanu’s US Open victory, with the spotlight unrelenting and her body uncooperative. Not only will this period give her the opportunity to address the latter, she will also have time for some much needed normality. Raducanu still has time on her side and does not need to rush back. If she is happy and healthy, she is more than good enough to climb the rankings again.

What about Jack Draper?

Britain’s other rising young star has also struggled with ongoing niggles, the latest of which was an abdominal injury that limited him to only one tournament in the last two months. Happily, he is back in time to make his French Open debut – a reminder of how quickly he rose up the ranks last season. There is no doubt about Draper’s potential but his physical frailty is frustrating. Draw and fitness permitting, the powerful 21-year-old could do serious damage at Wimbledon.

And the rest?

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Little to get excited about. There are no British women in the French Open main draw or the top 100 – a damning statistic given the resources available. That could soon change with Jodie Burrage, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart not too far away but the latter’s fall down the rankings this season has been disappointing. At junior level there are some encouraging signs after a barren spell but strength in depth remains the biggest challenge.

How is Murray looking for Wimbledon?

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His main motivation for missing the French Open again is to give himself the best chance at Wimbledon. Last year Murray’s hips finally felt good only for him to suffer an abdominal injury and miss the Wimbledon build-up. He has played some good tennis this season but, despite winning a first title since 2019, struggled on clay. Murray still believes he can challenge for the trophy at SW19 given his experience on grass, and his chances would be improved if he could sneak into the top 32 and obtain a seeding.

How does the overall tennis picture look?

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The men’s game has a very different look to 12 months ago, when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were still dominant. Nadal’s announcement that retirement is looming is another reminder that this remarkable era is drawing to a close while Djokovic, although still the man to beat at both the French Open and Wimbledon, has struggled on clay and is battling an elbow issue. Carlos Alcaraz is back at world number one and will be eyeing a second slam title in Paris but there could well be some surprise results. On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek will bid for a third title in Paris but is not as dominant as she was 12 months ago, with Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina the players of the season so far.

Andy Murray has withdrawn from this year’s French Open, the PA news agency understands.

The second grand slam of the year begins next week, but after struggling to find his best form on clay in recent weeks, the Scot will prioritise a busy grass-court schedule in the build-up to Wimbledon.

Murray was beaten in the first round of the Italian Open and earlier this week made another early exit on clay after losing to Stan Wawrinka at an ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux.

The 36-year-old is understood to still be considering which tournaments to target and they may include Surbiton from June 4-11 and then Queen’s from June 19-25. Wimbledon is scheduled to start on July 3.

Murray had struggled for his best form on clay after proving he was physically in condition to take on the world’s best players with some marathon matches at the Australian Open at the start of the year.

The former world number one, bidding to revive his career after major hip surgery in 2018, came through two five-set victories over Matteo Berrettini and Thanasi Kokkinakis before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

Murray beat Tommy Paul in the final of the ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence at the start of this month – his first title in nearly four years – after first-round exits in Monte Carlo and Madrid.

But that was followed by his disappointments in the Italian Open in Rome and another Challenger event in Bordeaux.

Andy Murray has withdrawn from this year’s French Open, the PA news agency understands.

The second grand slam of the year begins next week, but after struggling to find his best form on clay recently, the Scot will prioritise a busy grass-court schedule in the build-up to Wimbledon.

Murray was beaten in the first round of the Italian Open and earlier this week made another early exit on clay after losing to Stan Wawrinka at an ATP Challenger event in Bordeaux.

Andy Murray will make a decision over the next few days about whether to play in the French Open.

The Scot was knocked out of the Italian Open in the first round by Fabio Fognini on Wednesday evening after a three-set battle lasting nearly three hours.

Murray has failed to win a match at any of the three clay-court Masters 1000 events over the last month but won his first title since 2019 at the second-tier tournament in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday.

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Murray, who turns 36 this week, has only played at Roland Garros once since 2017 and must now decide whether to compete on the Parisian clay potentially for the last time or begin his preparations early for the grass-court season.

He told The Guardian: “I’d still like to play but we did agree that we’d talk and make a decision as a team after Rome.

“That is what I wanted, to see how my game felt, how I was playing and physically how I was doing in some of the longer matches before making a definitive call on it. We’ll have those discussions in the next few days.”

Murray and Fognini have been foes dating back to their junior days and it was the Italian who came out on top 6-4 4-6 6-4 after a tight battle.

“It was a pretty patchy match,” said Murray. “There was some good stuff in there but also some pretty average stuff. He played very well in the third set. My level was OK in the third, but he played really well in the third.”

The result was a setback to Murray’s hopes of being seeded at Wimbledon, while he got into a row with umpire Mohamed Lahyani over a line call late in the first set.

Responding to an Instagram post about the incident, Murray hit out at the Rome fans, saying: “Stadium full of Italians booing and whistling, thinking I’m trying to cheat Fabio out of point all because Mo couldn’t read a mark properly. Cheers mate.”

Andy Murray was beaten by fellow veteran Fabio Fognini to suffer a disappointing first-round exit at the Italian Open.

Murray, fresh from claiming success at an ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday, had hoped to extend his five-match winning streak but instead saw his time in Rome end early to the 35-year-old home favourite.

A 6-4 4-6 6-4 defeat to the world number 130 halts the momentum of the Briton, who will now turn his attention to the French Open later this month.

Three-time grand slam winner Murray made the worst possible start in Italy with Fognini able to break him in his opening service game.

While the Scot did force a number of opportunities to break back at 3-2, he failed to seize the moment and his frustration boiled over later in the set with a debate occurring with umpire Mohamed Lahyani over a tight line call that saw Fognini go 5-3 up.

Fognini went on to clinch a 69-minute opener but quickly found himself 4-0 down in the second with Murray hitting his straps, albeit helped by a string of double-faults from his opponent.

A second-set wobble saw the veterans exchange breaks before Murray did force a decider with the encounter by that point edging past the two-hour mark.

Despite Fognini seemingly struggling physically during the second set, he found a new lease of life and took the initiative with an early break in the third.

Murray tried to keep pace with the Italian, who was mixing an array of baseline winners with unforced errors but a concern for the two-time Wimbledon winner occurred when he held his back during the seventh game of the third.

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It was not enough to stop the new world number 42 from continuing, and yet there would be no big fightback on this occasion with Fognini earning a fifth victory in nine meetings thanks to an ace after two hours and 55 minutes.

This latest first-round exit at an ATP 1000 event on clay, after similar losses in Madrid and Monto-Carlo, will give Murray around 10 days preparation before Roland Garros begins on May 22 where he is now unlikely to be seeded.

Elsewhere, fellow Briton Kyle Edmund was also knocked out in the Italian Open first round after he suffered a 6-1 6-3 defeat to Alexandre Muller.

World number 473 Edmund saw his struggles continue against a French player who broke into the top 100 last month.

Muller managed to wrap up the first set in 23 minutes in Rome and, while Edmund was able to push his opponent more in the second, the former Australian Open semi-finalist was consigned to a third consecutive loss.

Andy Murray claimed his first title since October 2019 with victory at the ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence.

The Scot, playing with a metal hip, has not been in the winners’ circle since triumphing in Antwerp three and a half years ago and, although this is a second-tier tournament, he will take great pride in this confidence-boosting success ahead of the French Open.

Having breezed past lowly ranked French players on his run to the final, the standard was lifted and he came good, beating world number 17 Tommy Paul 2-6 6-1 6-2 to lift the title.

In doing so he ensures his return to the top 50 of the rankings and a first Challenger Tour level win for 18 years.

It looked like it might slip away after a poor start that saw him lose the first four games of the match to hand Paul, an Australian Open semi-finalist earlier this year, the advantage.

The 25-year-old American coasted to the first set, but that was as good as it got as Murray came to the fore.

He turned the tables by winning the first five games of the second set, including two breaks of serve, and soon levelled up.

Murray, eight days before his 36th birthday, broke in the opening game of the decider and did not look back as a second break consolidated his lead, allowing him to seal a memorable title.

The Scot only took a late wild card into the tournament following an early exit from the ATP Tour event in Madrid and will now decide whether to go Rome or rest and prepare for the French Open, which begins on May 22.

Andy Murray fought his way to a three-set win over Laurent Lokoli at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence after his French opponent had saved five match points.

Murray won 6-4 5-7 6-3 as the second round tie at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole turned into a marathon affair lasting two hours and 42 minutes

The 35-year-old three-time major champion – ranked 52 in the world and 135 places higher than Lokoli – shaded a tight first set on the French clay.

It looked as if the fifth seed would make short work of the contest in the second set when he broke serve for a 5-2 lead.

But Murray failed to take two match points and Lokoli, who was animated and waved his arms in the air to rev up the home crowd, battled back to make it 5-4.

Another two match points came and went for Murray in the next game with Lokoli’s drop shots proving a powerful weapon against the Scot.

Lokoli soon took the second set with Murray unable to halt a five-game losing streak.

Both players served impressively in the deciding set until Murray applied the pressure and seized a third break point to lead 5-3.

Despite Lokoli producing a stunning forehand winner to save a fifth match point, Murray eventually wrapped up victory – much to his obvious relief.

It was the first time he had secured back-to-back wins since Indian Wells in March.

Having beaten Gael Monfils in the first round, Murray will face a third French player, Luca Van Assche, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Dominic Thiem cruised through the first round of the Madrid Open in straight sets on Thursday, while former winner Andy Murray suffered an early exit.

Thiem, who has twice finished as runner-up at this event, made short work of Britain's Kyle Edmund in a 6-4 6-1 win to set up a second-round meeting with fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Austrian won 86 per cent of points on his first serve (24 of 28) and saved all four break points against him as Edmund just could not get himself into the contest.

Elsewhere, Murray, who claimed titles in Madrid in 2008 and 2015, could not embark on another such run, with the veteran dispatched by Andrea Vavassori in a 6-2 7-6 (9-7) defeat.

The Italian was particularly dominant at the net against Murray, winning 13 of 17 such points, while the 35-year-old managed just five of 14.

Qualifier Roman Safiullin saw off a fightback from Chile Open winner Nicolas Jarry to progress 6-2 3-6 6-3, setting up a clash with Tommy Paul in the second round, while Dusan Lajovic followed up his win at the Srpska Open by beating Jason Kubler 6-3 6-3. 

Stan Wawrinka mounted an impressive comeback victory on his return to action at the Monte Carlo Masters, but Andy Murray went out in straight sets.

The pair, both three-time grand slam winners, enjoyed contrasting fortunes in their first-round matches against Tallon Griekspoor and Alex de Minaur.

Wawrinka, who has not played since Indian Wells last month, saw off the Dutchman in a 5-7 6-3 6-4 triumph, but Murray was routed by the Australian in a 6-1 6-3 loss.

"It was really important to stay calm with myself," Wawrinka said. "In the first round you need to find your game. I am happy to get through. It was important to fight until the end."

Roberto Bautista Agut saved a match point in the second-set tie-break as he fought back to overcome Filip Krajinovic to prevail 5-7 7-6 (12-10) 6-1.

Dominic Thiem is also through following a 6-1 6-4 win over Richard Gasquet but 11th seed Cameron Norrie is out after suffering a 6-3 6-4 loss to Francisco Cerundolo.

Andy Murray believes Carlos Alcaraz can be a dominant figure in tennis "for as long as he wants" but cautioned against expecting him to challenge the grand slam records of the Big Three.

Roger Federer's haul of 20 slam titles has been overtaken by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who both have 22 majors, but those three are streets ahead of every other men's singles player in history.

Next on the list is Pete Sampras with 14 slams, which was itself a total that many once fancied would not be beaten for decades.

Murray was for a time part of a Big Four, until he got left behind by the relentless winning of his three great rivals. Federer has retired, but Djokovic and Nadal may yet have more slam titles in them.

At the age of 19, Alcaraz is already off the mark, winning the US Open last year, and he has jumped back to world number one after winning the Indian Wells Open on Sunday.

Djokovic and Nadal will be big threats to Alcaraz's hopes of triumphing at the French Open, but the young Spaniard is no longer simply the coming player on the ATP. He has arrived, and Murray is convinced Alcaraz is the real deal and poised to stay at the top of the sport for years to come.

"He has an excellent game, an all-around game that I think will translate well onto all surfaces," Murray said.

"He's not the biggest guy, but he can serve big. He's an unbelievable mover, great athlete. Has a lot of variety in his game. Takes the ball on a lot. That's something that you hope that he keeps.

"I know from experience that it's a bit easier playing that way when you're sort of 18, 19, and there's not any scar tissue there. I hope that he maintains that style of play because it's exciting to watch."

The prediction that Alcaraz can be an all-court player, and therefore succeed on grass as well as the hard and clay courts where he has already found success, bodes well for his prospects of stacking up slams.

Murray might have faced Alcaraz in round three at the Miami Open this fortnight, but the veteran Briton, a three-time slam winner and former number one, lost his opener on Wednesday to Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

There have only been two matches on tour between Alcaraz and Murray to date, both coming in the 2021 season when they won one each.

Alcaraz is the defending champion in Miami, and a clear favourite after crushing Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells title match. He brings a 14-1 record for the year into the tournament.

"He's obviously so far in his young career doing better than most of the guys that have come in the last eight to 10 years," Murray said.

"I know a lot of people are expecting everyone to win 20-plus grand slams now, like that's sort of normal. I wouldn't predict that for anyone.

"I would imagine he would be right at the top of the game for, well, as long as he wants to play."

Two-time Miami Open champion Andy Murray has been eliminated in the first round of this year's event after a shock 6-4 7-5 loss to world number 76 Dusan Lajovic on Wednesday.

Murray, ranked 53rd in the world, could not find his usual return with Lajovic winning 72 per cent of second-serve points, prevailing in one hour and 38 minutes.

The Serbian claimed only his fourth win out of 16 matches on hard courts since the start of last year, holding his nerve after failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, converting his third match point in the 12th game.

Lajovic hit 21-14 winners, with Murray committing more unforced errors (15-13). The Serbian converted all three break points he generated.

Former world number six Gael Monfils was forced to retire due to a right wrist injury in his clash with French compatriot Ugo Humbert at 3-3.

Monfils, 36, was playing at only his third event since returning to the ATP Tour following seven months out due to injury.

Argentina's Facundo Bagnis defeated Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves 6-3 1-6 6-4, with his reward a second-round clash with last week's Indian Wells Open winner and top seed Carlos Alcaraz.

World number 50 J.J. Wolf beat world number 48 Alexander Bublik 7-5 6-3 in 79 minutes, earning a second-round clash with sixth seed Andrey Rublev.

World number 74 Martin Fucsovics sent down nine aces as he beat Argentina's Pedro Cachin 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in 107 minutes. Fucsovics will next face seventh seed Holger Rune.

Ilya Ivashka beat Daniel Altmaier 6-2 6-1 to book a second-round clash with third seed Casper Ruud, while Fabio Fognini bowed out, losing 6-4 5-7 6-4 to Jan-Lennard Struff. USA's Brandon Nakashima powered to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over Germany's Oscar Otte.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz made it 10 wins from 11 matches in 2023 after defeating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in round three at the Indian Wells Open.

Alcaraz, 19, kicked off his 2023 campaign with eight wins in a row, including an Argentina Open title, before losing to Cameron Norrie in the Rio Open decider.

He has yet to drop a set at this fortnight's tournament in California, following up his opening win over Thanasi Kokkinakis with another strong showing against 31st seed Griekspoor.

The Spaniard will look to keep his strong form going when he meets Jack Draper in the fourth round, after 21-year-old Draper prevailed 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 in a battle of the Brits against Andy Murray.

Murray, who came into the match with six wins from his past seven outings, had an opportunity to take the match by the scruff of the neck but could not capitalise on a set point before going down in a tight tie-break, before Draper took charge.

California's own Taylor Fritz lived up to his fourth seeding, with the defending champion having little trouble in overcoming Argentina's Sebastian Baez 6-1 6-2, and he will play Hungary's Marton Fucsovics for a spot in the quarter-final.

Fucsovics, after upsetting 16th seed Alex De Minaur in the previous round, got the better of Slovakia's Alex Molcan 6-4 6-2.

Former world number three Stan Wawrinka showed he still has some gas in the tank after a surprise 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 triumph over world number eight Holger Rune, with the 37-year-old showing what he has learned through competing at the top level for as long as the 19-year-old Dane has been alive.

Jannik Sinner, the 13th seed, successfully navigated the challenge of veteran Adrian Mannarino for a 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory, Tommy Paul won his top-20 showdown against Hubert Hurkacz 4-6 6-2 6-4, and eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime knocked out Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-4.

Andy Murray acknowledged he produced a nervous performance against Radu Albot on Saturday but suggested it was due to the pressure of a kind Indian Wells Masters draw.

Murray had been due to play Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round in California, only for the 15th seed to pull out with injury.

The three-time major champion instead defeated Albot in 6-4 6-3 for his first straight-sets victory of the season.

That sets Murray up to play fellow Briton Jack Draper in round three ahead of a potential round-four meeting with top seed Carlos Alcaraz, the best player in the draw after Novak Djokovic was unable to enter.

Murray was in complete control against Albot but played with nerves, explaining: "I didn't know if it was because of [the change of opponent].

"I was trying to give reasons for why I may have felt that way. I felt nervous on the court.

"A lot of the way that Radu plays and Carreno Busta plays is not too dissimilar, in terms of the way they like to play points and maybe where and how they like to serve.

"Obviously there are differences in their games, but it wasn't a huge change in terms of my game plan or what I was expecting going into the match.

"But maybe I felt like it was a good opportunity for me and that the draw had opened up slightly. I obviously wanted to try to finish the match quickly."

Yet those nerves are not a problem for Murray, who says he would rather play under that pressure.

"I generally much prefer feeling nervous when I play matches and feeling pressure," he said. "It just felt a bit out of sync with the situation. I was in, I guess, pretty decent control of the match.

"I was serving well, I was hitting the ball pretty well, but there was just more tension than probably there should have been out there on the court.

"But usually I prefer to feel nerves, providing they are in check. And maybe they weren't, for whatever reason.

"I would way rather feel more tension than feel flat, which is really never a good sign for me. If I wake up and I don't feel any of the butterflies or anything like that, it's generally a bad sign."

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz and reigning champion Taylor Fritz both overcame challenges to progress into the third round of the Indian Wells Open on Saturday.

Alcaraz won 6-3 6-3 over Thanasi Kokkinakis in one hour and 18 minutes in his opening match of the event, which also marked his return from a fortnight out with a hamstring injury.

The Spaniard, who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last year, could return to the number one ranking with victory at this year's event in the absence of Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz hit 21 winners against the 94th-ranked Australian, dropping only one point on serve in the opening frame.

Fritz went a set down against 2023 Australian Open quarter-finalist Ben Shelton but eventually prevailed 4-6 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes.

Both players were excellent on serve throughout the contest, with Fritz earning a break in the 10th game of the second set to tie up the match, before swooping again in the sixth game of the decisive frame.

Veteran Andy Murray moved into the third round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Radu Albot, with the Briton to take on countryman Jack Draper next. Draper won 6-4 6-2 over 24th seed Daniel Evans.

Murray had been set to face 15th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round, but he withdrew due to a muscle injury, allowing Albot into the draw as a lucky loser. Murray's win was his first in straight sets since October.

Seventh seed Holger Rune won 7-5 6-3 over American Mackenzie McDonald, progressing to face Stanislas Wawrinka after he toppled 26th seed Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

Ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz got past Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-3, setting up a third-round clash with 17th seed Tommy Paul who won 6-3 6-3 over Jan-Lennard Struff.

Eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 over Pedro Martinez, while 11th seed Jannik Sinner got past veteran Richard Gasquet 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

Last week's Mexican Open champion and 16th seed Alex de Minaur was the highest seed to be knocked out on Saturday after a 6-4 6-2 loss to Martin Fucsovics.

Andy Murray pulled out another narrow win on Thursday as he collected an opening round 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4 comeback against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Indian Wells Masters.

It is the latest in a string of hard-fought wins for Murray, who has played the maximum number of sets in each of his past 10 victories dating back to the Gijon Open in October, including a pair of five-setters at the Australian Open.

Etcheverry started strong, fresh off his first ever ATP final at the Chile Open, but committed more unforced errors (21) than winners (17) in the second and third sets combined.

Fellow Great Britain representative Jack Draper was far more comfortable in his 6-1 6-1 demolition of Switzerland's Leandro Riedi, booking an all-English clash against Daniel Evans in the second round.

Former world number three Stan Wawrinka prevailed 6-4 1-6 6-1 against Aleksandar Vukic, but Vukic's Australian compatriot Thanasi Kokkanakis flew the flag with a 6-4 6-1 triumph over hometown talent Brandon Holt.

In a better result for the Americans, Mackenzie McDonald breezed past Filip Krajinovic 6-3 6-0 in just 63 minutes, and rising 20-year-old Ben Shelton had no problems in his 6-4 6-1 win over Fabio Fognini in 72 minutes.

Argentina's Guido Pella ground out 3-6 7-5 6-2 comeback in his South American clash against Brazil's Thiago Monteiro, and Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff did the same in his European showdown against France's Quentin Halys, taking it 1-6 6-3 6-3.