Andy Murray gave a positive assessment of his week in Rome after losing in the second round of the doubles with Liam Broady; the Scot, who has fallen to 123rd in the world rankings after long injury lay-offs, is expected to make a singles return in either Geneva or Lyon next week
Thursday 13 May 2021 18:05, UK
Andy Murray offered a positive assessment of his week in Rome as he begins to build on his preparations ahead of the French Open, which starts in May 30.
Murray, who travelled to Rome primarily to practise with some of the world's top players after recovering from a groin problem suffered in his sleep ahead of the Miami Open in March, teamed up with fellow Brit Liam Broady in the men's doubles.
The British pair were late alternates and pulled off a comeback win over Australian duo Max Purcell and Luke Saville in round one before going down 6-3 6-4 to eighth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau on Thursday.
"It was good to get a couple of matches for both of us after Liam didn't get into qualifying here and then obviously I was here practising but I knew as the week went on it was going to be a little bit harder to get match practice because most of the guys who lost would have been leaving," said the Scot, who is waiting to find out whether he will be given a French Open wild card.
Murray, 33, missed out on the Australian Open due to quarantine protocols after contracting the coronavirus and has not had much competitive action since.
The three-time Grand Slam winner is now stepping up his preparations for a potential singles comeback in either Geneva or Lyon next week.
Murray's practice partners have included world No 1 Novak Djokovic, and he was happy to learn more about where his level is at.
"Practise has been good," he said. "Today didn't feel that great on the court, I didn't play that well in comparison to yesterday. The other guys served well, which made it difficult.
"But it was good to feel what it was like in match conditions again after quite a long period for me.
"I got four practices with top-20 players, which is good. If we hadn't got into the doubles I maybe would have got one more before heading off but I got a couple of matches instead.
"It was positive, I'm happy I came over here, learned a bit about my game and where I'm at.
"It's totally different training conditions over here and being around the tournament like this than it is at home so (I'm) glad we came to do it.
"I did pretty well physically for the first points and practice sets at this level for a long time. I was happy with that and hopefully will keep building the next few weeks."
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