Murray keen to double up

Andy Murray has played 17 matches in four different cities in the last 29 days, but his appetite for competition is undiminished. The 20-year-old opens his Paris Masters singles campaign tomorrow but is also playing in the doubles alongside his brother, Jamie. They meet Jordan Kerr and Andre Sa in the first round.

Jamie has yet to find a regular partner following his split from Eric Butorac and asked his brother to play with him here. While many of the leading singles players prefer not to play doubles at the bigger tournaments, Andy welcomed the chance of some match practice on the courts here at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. Although he had some tough contests last week on his way to the St Petersburg Open title, he knows the "champions' tie-break" doubles format, replacing a third set, rules out long matches.

"If it was the old rules I wouldn't have played but with the new rules I think it will be quite good for me," said Andy. "This way I'll get a feel for the court."

A good performance in the singles could crown Murray's comeback from injury with qualification for next month's Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, which brings together the year's top eight players. Having climbed back to No 12, Murray is in a positive mood.

"I've played well the last few weeks and won a lot of matches and now that I've won in St Petersburg I'll be going into Paris feeling very confident," he said. "My first match is going to be tough but when I'm playing at my best I've got a chance of beating all the top players."

Murray first plays Argentina's Juan Monaco, the world No 20, or Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, the No 26.