Following a 10-0 start to his clay court season in 2015, Andy Murray maintained that undefeated run when he commenced his week in Paris with a straight sets victory to advance to the following round of the tournament. As one of the tournament favourites, Murray will advance to the second round, where he will next face Portugal’s Joao Sousa. This marks the fifth time that Murray and Sousa will cross paths on the professional circuit, and the Briton leads the head-to-head series 5-0.

Seeded third at this year’s tournament, Andy Murray reached the second round of the tournament following a straight sets win against Facundo Arguello. His 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 scoreline extended his win streak to 11 consecutive matches this season on that surface.

“The first set, I didn’t feel like it was great; I felt like it was difficult,” said Murray. “The start was very windy on the court and cold, so it was quite slow conditions. I found it difficult at the beginning. Then I felt, when the wind died down a bit in the second and third set, I felt that the level of tennis was better.”

Opposite Murray in the second round of the tournament will be Joao Sousa, who reached that stage of the tournament with a straight sets win against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, who took part in the tournament on the heels of an ankle injury several weeks ago. He struck eight aces, 32 winners and converted seven break points to close out the match 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.

This marks the sixth time that Murray and Sousa will meet on the professional tour. Murray leads the head-to-head series 5-0, which include two recent wins in 2015, at the Australian Open and Dubai. All of those wins took place on hard courts, which adds some intrigue into their first clay court match on Thursday afternoon.