French Open Q&A with former champion Jim Courier

Courier, winner at Roland Garros in 1991 and 1992, is the current US Davis Cup captain but will be part of ITV's commentary team in Paris over the next fortnight.

Here he gives his views on a range of topics - from Rafael Nadal's attempt to win a "mind-boggling" 10th title to Andy Murray's recent woes and how Serena Williams will perform on her return as a mother.

Courier also picks out his likely winners - and his title dark horses.

Here's what he had to say:

Sporting Life: Rafael Nadal made his own coaching change in the summer – how big a part do you feel Carlos Moya has played in his resurgence? Is he your favourite to win the title and, if he does, how great an achievement will winning 10 French Opens be?

Jim Courier: Carlos should get quite a bit of credit for Rafa’s resurgence. Under Carlos, Rafa has added location variety to his first and second serve patterns as well as additional velocity to the first shots after his serve in the rally to get control of points earlier. Both have been wise, successful changes. Rafa deserves a ton of credit for being willing to make these changes. He is the clear favourite.

I think that winning 10 titles at your local tennis club is an incredible achievement so his dominance at Roland Garros boggles the mind.

SL: 2017 has been a struggle for Andy Murray. Do you feel that is related to his ascent to world no 1? It would be good to hear how you dealt with the added pressure when you reached that pinnacle in your career – and also as a returning champion at Roland Garros.

JC: Andy’s bout with shingles earlier this year would seem to indicate some carryover fatigue from the huge push he made last year to get to number one. A fresh, rested Andy Murray will challenge for majors for the foreseeable future so that is hopefully who we will see in Paris and London (at Wimbledon) in the next six weeks.

I don’t think the pressure of being number one would be too much for Andy to handle considering how much pressure he has carried from day one in his career as the number one Brit trying to win Wimbledon for himself and so many others.

SL: Appreciate you currently have your own jobs but do you see a point in the future where you are working with an individual tour player on the circuit? Have you had approaches which you’ve turned down?

JC: The trend of top players with experienced champions on their coaching staff continues unabated. There have been quite a few players that have enquired about my availability over the years. As Davis Cup captain of the US team I get a lot of pleasure working with our top players alongside their teams but joining one player’s team is not something that has been feasible for me for various reasons. I haven’t ruled it out for the future but it is not something I can consider now.

SL: Some new rules are to be introduced for the Next Gen Finals in Milan in November. The ATP says it could extend these to main-tour events if the trial proves successful. Do you think that will happen and which rule would you like to see implemented across the board?

JC: Tennis Australia, which runs the Australian Open, has been running 'Fast4' exhibitions for a few years in Australia so the Next Gen Finals format is not new. I applaud Tennis Australia and the ATP for experimenting with the scoring format to see if there is better, more modern vehicle to attract more fans without losing our core audience. Tennis must be open to new ideas to grow as times change and perhaps this will be a way forward for the game. It’s too early to tell but I’m pleased to see the open-minded approach from the ATP.

SL: Serena Williams misses the French Open this year but plans to be back in 2018. Do you think she’ll win more Grand Slams as a mother? In her absence, the women’s singles looks wide open. Who do you see as the player to beat?

JC: Yes, I believe Serena will add to her major titles when she returns as a mother.

Roland Garros is wide open for the women, especially with Simona Halep’s recent injury, along with the absence of champions like Serena, Vika (Azarenka), Petra (Kvitova) and Maria (Sharapova). Karolina Pliskova would be my pick right now.

SL: And if Nadal and Pliskova don’t make it, do you have any long-shot fancies who could emerge as champion, a la Francesca Schiavone in 2010?

JC: Dominic Thiem on the men's side - he has the tools and results from this year’s claycourt season to believe he can do it.

In the women's singles, Kiki Mladenovic. She's an ascendant player with local support who could make a huge run or crash early under the pressure. Someone to watch for sure.

ITV's French Open: Roland-Garros coverage starts on ITV4 at 0930 BST on Sunday and continues throughout the tournament.