Andy Murray to begin Queen's Club record bid against Nicolas Mahut

Defending champion Andy Murray will start his bid for a record fifth Queen's Club title with a first round tie against former finalist Nicolas Mahut.

Murray won the Wimbledon warm-up event for a fourth time last year to equal the record tally set by John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Boris Becker and Roy Emerson.

After losing in his first French Open final appearance against Novak Djokovic earlier this month, Murray is back on the practice courts in west London ahead of Monday's start at Queen's and on Saturday the world No 2 learnt he will begin his Wimbledon preparations against world No 49 Mahut.

Murray, who also won Queen's in 2009 and 2011, will not have it easy against Mahut, a big-serving 34-year-old who reached the 2007 Queen's final before losing to Roddick. The Frenchman arrives in form too - he reached the final of in Den Bosch.

Murray's draw has a distinctly French flavour - in the second round he could meet Benoit Paire, France's world No 24, or Britain's world No 58 Aljaz Bedene.

In the quarter-finals, Murray is scheduled to face another Frenchman in eighth seed Gilles Simon, while in the last four his potential opponent is fourth seed Richard Gasquet - who Murray beat in Paris.

Second seed Stan Wawrinka could be lying in wait if Murray reaches his fifth Queen's final.

The Swiss world No 5 opens his Queen's campaign against experienced Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, with a potential quarter-final against towering American John Isner or former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro - who meet in an eye-catching first round tie, and a possible last four clash with Canada's Milos Raonic.