World number four Andy Murray has shaken off an elbow problem and is feeling in fine fettle ahead of this week's Madrid Masters clay event.
World number four Andy Murray has shaken off an elbow problem and is feeling in fine fettle ahead of this week's Madrid Masters clay event.
The injury forced the 23-year-old Briton to miss last month's Barcelona Open after his run to the last four at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he lost to eventual winner and clay master Rafa Nadal.
"Yeah, I feel great," Murray told a news conference at the Magic Box arena in the Spanish capital on Sunday.
"I have been practising really well, I feel good again, I have got the right mentality just now.
"I've been playing very well so hopefully I can keep that up here. I've got a tough first match but definitely one I can win if I play well."
As fourth seed behind Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, Murray has a bye into the second round where he will play either Frenchman Gilles Simon or Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
"They are pretty different players," Murray said.
"Simon's more solid, very quick and doesn't make many mistakes. Ljubicic has a big serve, probably makes more mistakes but probably has a bigger weight of shot." Murray managed to take a set off Nadal in Monte Carlo, eventually losing 6-4 2-6 6-1 to the world number one.
He said he felt he had played well but still had room for improvement if he wanted to challenge the Spaniard.
"Monte Carlo was a big step in the right direction," he said.
"I practise with Rafa quite a lot, I enjoy playing against him, I feel I can definitely compete against him and I could win against him, but it's a very difficult thing to do because he''s one of the best players of all time.
"It's difficult but I think I can get there."
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