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Fabrice Santoro, nicknamed the Magician for his habit of mystifying bigger and stronger opponents, is proudly preparing to open his bag of tricks for his 20th and final French Open show.

The Frenchman, who will retire at the end of the year, will extend his record of appearances at Grand Slam events to 67 in the May 24-June 7 claycourt tournament.

"Last Roland Garros, last year on the circuit, there is that feeling that a page is being turned and an immense satisfaction to have done 20 of them," the 36-year-old Santoro told Reuters.

"I never dreamed I would get that far."

Santoro stands 1.77 metres tall and weighs 74 kg but has floored many more powerful players courtesy of his resilience and tennis intelligence.

He retains many great French Open memories but knows which one he cherishes the most.

It was in 2001 on Centre Court, a third-round match against towering Russian Marat Safin, then the world number two.

Santoro, leading two sets to one and understandably feeling tired, gave away the fourth set, which the Russian won 6-0, before bouncing back in the fifth, taking it 6-1 to score a memorable victory.

"I was too tired and I realised after two points that I couldn't do anything, that I had to rest," Santoro said about his surprising tactics in the fourth set of that match.

"I knew letting the set go was the best solution but I wasn't sure of anything."

There are also a few bad memories from the tournament for the Tahiti-born player, the most painful being a first-round exit to lowly Japanese player Shuzo Matsuoka in 1993.

"I was world number 21 then and playing extremely well but on the day I played an awful match because I couldn't handle the stress," Santoro said. "I don't feel that pressure any more today."

Santoro's French Open history dates back to 1989, when he entered the main tournament for the first time and also won the junior title as a 16-year-old.

One of the few top players on the men's circuit to hit both shots double-handed, Santoro has won many admirers over the years for his finesse and sense of strategy.

"I keep bumping into people who tell me to carry on but in my head it's clear: I'm stopping," he said.

Among his fans are Andy Murray, who often describes Santoro as his favourite player, as well as Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, the man responsible for Santoro's nickname.

"It pleases me," Santoro said of Murray's admiration of his style. "It's funny because Andy was born in 1987 and was just a toddler when I won the French Open junior title."

Being different was not easy at first but now Santoro is proud of not being just another hard-hitting machine.

"At the start of my career people were saying I was atypical as a player and I took it as a reproach but today I don't want to be typical, from the same mould as everyone," he said.

"I feel extremely lucky and privileged," he added. "After the age of 30, I experienced the best years in my career, scoring my best results and earning more recognition, but behind all that are thousands of hours of work and a great will to succeed."

For his final French Open, Santoro has been careful not to set the bar too high.

"The goal, ideally, is to move past the first round and lose after having played a great match," he said. "The absolute nightmare would be to play a bad match."

Once out of the tournament, he will follow the progress of the others and, as a man who rates elegance over power, hope that Federer will win his battle with Rafael Nadal to triumph in Paris at last.

"If he (Federer) does it, I'll be at least as happy as he will be," Santoro said.

Guinot Mary Cohr Masters: Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play in a French Open warm-up event: From 12.30pm on May 20-22 LIVE on British Eurosport 2 (Sky 412, Virgin Media 525); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Reuters