IT may not be his primary focus, but Gordon Reid is well aware that he is within touching distance of achieving something remarkable.

The Scottish wheelchair tennis player has won all four Grand Slam titles in doubles, as well as Wimbledon and the Australian Open in singles. His goal now is to add the French Open and US Open individual titles to complete a full set of both singles and doubles Grand Slams.

This week his pursuit of the French Open singles title begins at Roland Garros.

Reid is ranked fifth in the world in singles and while he is well aware that fixating on adding to his Grand Slam tally is not entirely helpful, he admits it is difficult to eliminate the thought of completing the set from his mind entirely.

“It’s a big goal of mine to win the French Open. I’ve won all four slams in doubles so to finish that set and win all four slams in singles as well would be an amazing achievement,” he says.

“We all talk about trying not to focus on outcomes but I think everyone has underlying thoughts about it because it’s difficult to eradicate it completely.

“It’s the reason athletes are out there; to strive to be the best and try to win the biggest events so there’s always going to be an element of that in your mind. So as much as I’m trying not to focus on my results, of course it would be awesome to come home from Paris with the title.”

Reid, who suffers from the rare neurological condition transverse myelitis, has been at the top end of his sport for a decade, and the initial lockdown last spring saw him spend more time off the court than he has in years.

For the 29-year-old, the timing could not have been worse. After a disappointing, by his standards, 2019 in singles, he began to regain his momentum in early 2020 before the world, and his progress, came to an abrupt halt.

It was a blow, but the Dunbartonshire man did use the time at home wisely, becoming the fittest he has ever been.

He was, though, desperate for the tour to re-start, with his first tournament back the US Open last autumn. After such a long build-up, Reid admits the occasion got to him, losing in the quarter-finals.

“In the US Open, I struggled with the psychological side of things. I felt like I’d gone back a couple of steps in terms of the mental things I’d been working on,” he says.

“Dealing with things like the pressure, the atmosphere at competition, playing in front of completely empty stands, was tough. And we’d had to wait so long for a tournament, I felt like I’d maybe built it up too much. I was just too anxious and nervous and I didn’t express myself on court at all. But it was also a reminder of what I needed to work on and so it was a good starting point.”

Since then, Reid has got a handle on the mental side of things, with both his form and his results getting better and better, with his doubles performances particularly impressive.

Along with his partner, Alfie Hewett, the duo have established themselves as far and away the top pair in the world and go into the French Open aiming to win their 10th Grand Slam title together and their sixth consecutive major.

“We’re not quite so confident that we feel we’re unbeatable, but the more you win, the more confident you get and the more belief you have,” Reid says. “We’ve found ourselves in a lot of tight battles and a lot of tricky situations in recent years and we always seem to find a way to come out on top.

“I feel like pressure is easy to manage if you’re confident. When you’re feeling confident, you can use the pressure to boost your ego and bump up your confidence even further because if you’ve got that target on your back, it’s for a reason.”

Reid has a busy few months ahead. Just two weeks after Roland Garros, he will head to Wimbledon to attempt to reclaim the singles title he won in 2016 and the doubles crown he and Hewitt won in 2018.

He will then jet off to Japan for the Paralympics where he will defend his singles title, before heading straight to the US Open.

It is a schedule that sounds exhausting but after tennis was cancelled last year, Reid is relishing the challenge.

“I’ve barely thought about the Paralympics yet because there’s a couple of big tournaments between now and Tokyo,” he says. “I’m especially excited to get back to Wimbledon after missing it last year. It’s my favourite event to play and I was gutted to miss it last year.

“It’s going to be a very full-on spell and it’s going to be really intense but I’d much rather have it that way than the other extreme of having nothing. It’ll be a tough few months but I’m looking forward to it.”