Murray Optimistic Despite Monte-Carlo Exit

Andy Murray is disappointed to have bowed out of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Thursday, but knows he’s come a long way over the past two weeks.

The World No. 1 wasn’t even sure he would play the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event until late last week. Murray rued squandering a 4-0 lead in the deciding set of his third-round match against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, but said his right elbow holding up over two lengthy matches was his biggest victory of the tournament.

“It wasn’t until I had to start serving full power that I decided (whether to play). My elbow’s been good. I’m really happy about that,” said Murray. “Obviously disappointed with the result today. But I played for two-and-a-half hours. I hit a lot of serves, a lot more than I’ve been doing in practice. My elbow feels better today than it did yesterday. That’s great.”

Listen To Tennis Radio

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Prior to entering Monte-Carlo, Murray had been limited to one match in the past six weeks. He admitted a lack of time on court and the transition to clay resulted in some initial ring rust, but is confident he’ll shake it off in time for his next ATP World Tour event.

“When you play on a new surface, you haven’t played many matches for a while, you sometimes lose the right way to play. You can be hitting the ball great, but you’re not hitting it in the right places,” reflected Murray. “That’s an important part of my game, playing the correct way in terms of tactics, hitting the ball in the right spots. I don’t hit the ball as hard as a lot of the guys. I normally beat guys by maneuvering them around the court rather than blasting them off the court.

“A few times today, I made some bad decisions,” he added. “That’s something I’ll look at with my team, watch some parts of the match over and see the shots that I chose and what I would do differently.”

Perhaps the most encouraging thing for Murray is being able to practise at full speed again. He said he’s eager to hit the courts before his next tournament now that he knows his elbow can withstand the rigours of training.

“I had to go a little bit easy when I first came back from the elbow,” he said, “Whereas now I’m ready to really to put in some hard work.”