Britain's Andy Murray begins his clay-court season against Serbia's Viktor Troicki at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Murray, who received a first-round bye, has won all four of their meetings, but was taken to five sets by the world number 30 at last year's French Open.
They are the second match on Court Central at around 1200 BST on Tuesday.
"All these tournaments are very important, with the French Open coming at the end," said Murray, who reached the semi-finals in 2009 and 2011
"Each week, you want to be playing a little better in preparation for that.
"It's difficult here, as you can come up against tough players right off the bat.
"For me, it's not a surface I grew up on, so it takes a little while for me to get comfortable."
In the build-up to Monte Carlo 12 months ago, Murray lost his opening matches in Rotterdam, Indian Wells and Miami.
But victories over Radek Stepanek, Gilles Simon and Frederico Gil saw him make the last four before falling to Rafael Nadal.
He almost pulled off a stunning win against Novak Djokovic at the Rome Masters and continued his impressive form at Roland Garros.
Murray came from two sets down to beat big-hitting Troicki in the last 16 and then overcame Juan Ignacio Chela in the last eight, only for Nadal to end his run at the semi-final stage.
"Last year, throughout the clay-court season, I felt way better [than previously]," said Murray, who has yet to reach a clay-court final on the ATP World Tour.
"It started here. I had a good run. I probably shouldn't have played the match against Rafa. I had the injection before we went out to play.
"It was tough, but it was character building in a way, as I started to play well again after struggling in Miami."
Of his new shaved hair, Murray added: "I did it myself. I just decided I wanted to cut my hair. It was my fitness trainer's razor so I wasn't sure how short it was going to be."
The 24-year-old is also playing doubles on Tuesday, joining forces with brother Jamie against Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas in the last match on Court Central.
17 April 2012
Last updated at 07:30
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/17738045
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