Clay gets his car dirty but Kyrgios wins at French Open along with Murray

The red stuff isn’t to everyone’s liking.

A decade ago, Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov wrote in a hilarious blog for the ATP: “I think the only natural habitat for (clay) is on Mars so they should change Roland Garros to hard courts and make a clay tournament on Mars!”

Tursunov might have an ally in Nick Kyrgios.

Following his impressive 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber – a savvy clay-courter – in the first round at the French Open on Tuesday, he admitted that clay wasn’t his favorite tennis surface.

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The longer rallies aren’t for the routinely headline-making Australian, and besides, his car needs a good clean after practicing on it.

“When I’m back home I don’t really train that much on clay because it makes my cars dirty, too,” he told reporters.

Not that the red dirt is the only surface tennis players have complained about. Voicing their disapproval of playing at Wimbledon, former No. 1 players Ivan Lendl, Marat Safin and Marcelo Rios all stated “grass is for cows” or some minor variant.

Wimbledon champion, Olympic gold medalist and world No.1 -- Andy Murray could hardly have had a better 2016.

In January's Australian Open, Murray defeated hotshot Alexander Zverev, David Ferrer and Milos Raonic on his way to a fourth Melbourne final against Novak Djokovic. The Serb went on to prevail in three sets, continuing Murray's wait at the year's first major.

He won his first title of 2016 at the Italian Open in Rome, downing Djokovic in the final to lift the trophy without conceding a set.

It was the perfect preparation for the French Open, with Murray seeing off big servers Ivo Karlovi? and John Isner in the early rounds at Roland Garros, before defeating Richard Gasquet and defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka to reach the final. It all led to yet another showdown against Djokovic, but the Serb was once again too strong.

Suddenly the grass court season was upon us, with Murray announcing he would resume working with former coach Ivan Lendl. At London's Queen's Club in June, the Scot came from a set and a break down to defeat Raonic and win a tournament-best fifth title.

And it wouldn't be long until a second Wimbledon crown was his, with Murray capitalizing on the early exits of Djokovic and seven-time champion Roger Federer to beat Raonic in the final.

The tears flowed freely as Murray basked in the adulation of his home crowd, citing Wimbledon as "the most important tournament for me every year."

Murray now needed to retain his Olympic tennis singles title, and defeated the likes of Fabio Fognini, Steve Johnson and Kei Nishikori to reach a sixth consecutive final that year. He made no mistake in the gold medal match, beating Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in a pulsating four-set affair.

But the winning streak couldn't go on forever, with Murray beaten in the final of the Cincinnati Masters by Cilic -- the first man other Djokovic to defeat him in a Tour final since Federer in 2012. Murray was also sent packing early in the US Open, with Nishikori winning their quarterfinal in five sets.

He quickly arrested the slump, finding his form as Djokovic began to struggle. In October, Murray won the China Open for the first time and followed it with a win at the Shanghai Masters.

And he continued his win streak in Austria, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final to move within a thousand points of Djokovic in the ATP race rankings.

When Djokovic crashed out of the Paris Masters 1000 in the quarterfinal, Murray had a chance to become world No. 1 if he reached the final. He went one better, beating John Isner for his 19th consecutive match win.

What better way to end the year than yet another tournament win? Murray beat all four players directly below him in the rankings to win the ATP World Tour Finals in London, ending the year on a 24-match unbeaten streak.

He ended the year as the undisputed world No. 1.

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But clay has long been considered an important surface for the development of young players.

Despite the emergence of slow hard courts, most would agree that clay remains the slowest surface around. As such, players must learn to construct points instead of quickly blasting past opponents.

“It’s good for learning the game,” said Javier Piles, the former coach of David Ferrer, one of the best clay-courters of the last 10 years who then became a threat on hard courts.

To be fair to Kyrgios, he has had success on clay, making a final in his young career in Estoril, Portugal and upsetting Roger Federer in Madrid.

He entered this French Open short of matches, pulling out of Estoril after the death of his grandfather and not playing at the Italian Open due to a hip complaint.

In Tuesday's showpiece clash, world No. 1 Andy Murray defied the doubters and his torrid start to the clay-court season, beating Russian Andrey Kuznetsov (6-4 4-6 6-2 6-0) to reach round two.

After years blighted by injury, Juan Martin del Potro beat fellow Argentine Guido Pella (6-2 6-1 6-4) in the former US Open champion's first match at Roland Garros since 2012.

Former champion Stan Wawrinka overcame Slovakian Jozef Kovalik with a straight-sets victory 6-2 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.

But promising 20-year-old talent Alexander Zverev -- the ninth seed -- was beaten by world No. 37 Fernando Verdasco in four sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2)

Kei Nishikori proved too strong for Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis over on court one, surviving an early scare to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Novak Djokovic is already safely through to the second round, courtesy of a straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory against Spanish 31-year-old Marcel Granollers.

The Serb has a new so-called "super coach" at the helm in eight-time grand slam champion Andre Agassi, but that didn't stop former coach Boris Becker turning up in the player's box during the third set.

Djokovic could meet Rafa Nadal in this year's semifinals. The "King of Clay" is in search of a 10th French Open title and moved one step closer with a convincing 6-1 6-4 6-1 win against Frenchman Beno?t Paire. "The most important thing is to win," said the Spaniard. "If it's in three [sets], it's better."

Big serving Canadian Milos Raonic joined Nadal and Djokovic in the second round, seeing off Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-3 6-4 6-2. The world No. 6 has never advanced beyond the last eight at the year's second major.

Belgian No. 1 David Goffin eased past Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2 6-2 6-2 on Court 1.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza began the defense of her French Open crown in style, beating former champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-4.

"I cannot believe in the first round we have two ex-champions!" enthused Muguruza. "Francesca is a legend and I was very excited to play on Philippe Chatrier court with her." The women's draw is wide open in the absence of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.

A day earlier, Angelique Kerber suffered the indignity of becoming the first top seeded woman to be defeated in the opening round of the French Open as she suffered a surprise straight-sets loss to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

But it's so far so good for Djokovic-Agassi... Who will win the French Open? Have your say tweeting @CNNSport.

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Murray drops set

Three other big names in the top half of the draw – Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori – also arrived in Paris under a cloud.

They, like Kyrgios, advanced although one of France’s top hopes, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, was a game away from defeat when his match with Renzo Olivo was suspended at 9.55 p.m. local time.

Murray, who learned the finer points of clay-court tennis at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona as a teen, dropped a set before defeating 73rd-ranked Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-0.

Murray’s time at No. 1 has been completely dissimilar to the Scot’s quest to get there last year. An elbow injury, bout of the shingles, loss of motivation and then last week, a virus that necessitated antibiotics, have all conspired against him.

Last year’s beaten finalist in southwest Paris coughed throughout his on-court interview after dispatching Kuznetsov.

Murray’s health issues however pale in comparison to del Potro’s. Indeed the Argentine may be the first to come to mind when thinking of talented tennis players whose careers have been derailed by injuries.

Surgery to both wrists – the left wrist is currently more problematic and affects his drive backhand – have robbed the 28-year-old of vital years on the circuit and last week he wasn’t sure of competing at the French Open because of shoulder and back problems.

He did show up for the first time since 2012 and ousted Guido Pella – a teammate when Argentina won a maiden Davis Cup title in November – 6-2 6-1 6-4.

‘So happy to be here’

“I am so happy to be here after five years,” the 2009 US Open champion told reporters.

If the seedings hold, del Potro and Murray will meet in the third round, a mouthwatering prospect given their two tussles in 2016 were classics.

Murray topped del Potro in an enthralling Olympic final in Rio, with the latter getting revenge in that other team event, the Davis Cup, with a five-hour victory in September in Glasgow.

Nishikori has been repeatedly hindered by minor injuries, handing a walkover to Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open in May with a wrist injury of his own prior to losing to del Potro in Rome the next week.

He overcame Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis – another deeply affected by injury – 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4.

Tsonga in trouble

The 11th-ranked Tsonga – bidding to become the first French man to win Roland Garros since Yannick Noah in 1983 – trailed Argentina’s Olivo 7-5 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 5-4.

Olivo, who owns only one victory at grand slams, was two points away from advancing at 6-6 in the tiebreak and couldn’t serve out the match at 5-3 in the fourth.

Much to the dismay of the fans on center court, play was subsequently halted due to darkness. Despite not closing out Tsonga, the world No. 91 still had time to pose for a selfie when exiting the stadium.

A minor upset occurred on Philippe Chatrier court when the ever dangerous Fernando Verdasco defeated the much hyped Alexander Zverev 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2 in the completion of a match suspended by darkness Monday.

When asked what made the difference, the 20-year-old Rome winner didn’t hold back.

“I played absolute sh** made the difference. It’s quite simple.”

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Safe to say he and women’s seventh seed Johanna Konta weren’t a fan of the clay. Konta was upset by 109th-ranked Hsieh Su-Wei 1-6 7-6 6-4.

Simona Halep – the 2014 finalist who is a huge fan of the clay – seemingly brushed aside any concerns about her injured ankle.

The women’s favourite, Halep last week wasn’t sure she would play her opener. But the Romanian did and cruised past Jana Cepelova 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour.