Andy Murray expects Rafael Nadal to continue his domination of the French Open this year as the Spaniard seeks to write his name into the Roland Garros history books.

Murray, whose only previous appearance at Roland Garros in 2006 ended in a first-round defeat, will play French teenage wildcard Jonathan Eysseric in the first round. Eysseric, who turns 18 next week, is currently ranked 387th in the world.

Nadal will face a qualifier and the two could meet in the quarter-finals.

Nadal's supremacy on clay shows no sign of abating after he battled past closest rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to win the Hamburg Open.

Federer may still be the men's number one but Nadal is unstoppable on clay, with the 21-year-old having lost only two of his last 110 matches on the surface.

The swashbuckling Mallorcan has yet to taste defeat at the French Open, having won the tournament on his debut in 2005, and another triumph would see him join Bjorn Borg as the only man to win four in a row.

And British number one Murray - seeded 10th - cannot see beyond Nadal extending his reign at Roland Garros when play begins on Sunday.

"Nadal's the favourite for sure. Federer and Djokovic pushed him close in Hamburg but he's still tough on the surface," he said.

"It's funny because you can sit there and watch him play and it seems like the tactics you need to use against him are very simple.

"But when you actually get on the court it's much harder to execute them.

"I'm expecting him to win the French Open but Federer and Djokovic have a good chance."

Roland Garros is the only grand slam event that continues to elude Federer, who trails Nadal 8-1 in meetings between the two on clay.

The Swiss star has lost to Nadal in the last two French Open finals and now trails 10-6 in matches on all surfaces as the sport's biggest rivalry continues.

Murray was crushed 6-3 6-2 by Nadal in the third round of the Hamburg Open last week but it was not until viewing a replay of the match he understood his opponent's technical brilliance.

"I watched a few of his matches after I'd got back from Hamburg and I saw something that I didn't realise until I'd seen him on TV," he said.

"He's the only player I've seen on the tour right now who can slide with the right leg and the left leg.

"When he goes for the backhand he slides on the right leg, when he goes to the forehand he slides on his left leg.

"In terms of movement that makes it so much easier for him to recover because it makes it easier for him to get to the ball.

"It's a very hard thing to do. Federer, Djokovic and myself tend to slide just on one leg. He can do that on both.

"You think you have to go to the net against him but he covers the court so well because he's able to do that.

"His forehand is also the toughest shot in tennis on clay."

Another French Open great, Justine Henin, will not be competing following last week's shock announcement that she has retired from the sport.

Murray understands why the 25-year-old - who has won the French crown four times in the past five years - wants to retire.

"When you're doing as much winning as Henin was you'll naturally get tired," he said.

"Also when you're as good as she was at such a young age - she started on the tour at 16 - it's normal that she's tired."