Andy Murray has warned it would be "stupid" to write off Rafa Nadal at the French Open, despite the Spaniard's recent dip in form.
Nadal may have only lost once in 10 years at Roland Garros but a combination of injury, illness and disappointing results at the start of the clay-court season has seen him fall to seventh in the ATP Tour world rankings.
The nine-time champion faces a potential quarter-final meet with world No.1 Novak Djokovic, who already has five tournament victories to his name this year. Murray could face either in the semi-finals, should the Scot get that far, but believes Djokovic is favourite in Paris.
"(Nadal's form) changes things. Novak for me goes into the tournament as the favourite now," Murray, who will face Argentinian qualifier Facundo Arguello in round one, said.
"But on that court Rafa's record is ridiculous. It's completely possible that he gets out there and feels great, especially if he gets himself into the tournament and wins his first few matches.
"He's going to feel better and better. He obviously loves the conditions here, although the courts this week have been extremely slow.
"If it gets warmer and starts to speed up, obviously he loves the conditions here. It would be stupid to write him off or suggest that he can't win the event - it's definitely possible that he could do that."
Murray goes into the year's second grand slam as a genuine contender, having ended his long wait for an ATP Tour title on clay. The British No.1 enjoyed back-to-back triumphs in Munich and Madrid; at the latter, he earned his first ever victory over Nadal on the terracotta surface.
However, he finds himself in the same half of the draw as Nadal and Djokovic and will potentially have to overcome the likes of Nick Kyrgios, John Isner and clay-court specialist David Ferrer along the way.
"I'm in the same half of the draw as Rafa and Novak, so that's hard," Murray added.
"Ferrer is someone I have never beaten on clay before, that's tough, and then Isner is the other seed, and Kyrgios, who obviously has had some huge wins in slams.
"It's certainly not an easy draw, that's for sure. But many times I have played in slams where draws appeared extremely difficult, and after a couple of losses all of a sudden everyone tells me it's an easy draw.
"You just have to play the matches in front of you and see what happens. I would love to be in that position to have made the semis - for me that's a great result at this event.
"It could work both ways. If Nadal and Djokovic play a five-hour marathon, then whoever plays against them in the semis is happy about that.
"But if either one of them goes on the court and crushes the other one, they can be pretty confident going into the semi-finals as well. I hope I'm there. There are certainly no guarantees that will be the case, I will have to play really, really well to get there."
Murray reached the semi-finals in Paris last year, before he was beaten in straight sets by Nadal. The Briton has also lost his last seven meetings with Djokovic, most notably in the Australian Open final last January.