In a bid to gage where his game currently is Andy Murray was put through his paces at the Faro Italico when he held a practice session with Novak Djokovic.
The two Grand Slam winners had a hitting session in Rome ahead of Djokovic’s first round clash against Taylor Fritz. It was the first time Murray has been spotted back on the Tour in recent weeks but he is not playing in Rome. His hope is to play an event next week in either Geneva or Lyon if he receives a wildcard. Murray last played a competitive match at the Rotterdam Open.
Following their reunion in the Italian capital, Djokovic said he was impressed by the current form of his peer. The two tennis stars are born a week apart and have played each other 36 times on the ATP Tour so far in their careers. Djokovic leads their head-to-head 25-11.
“I was very happy to see him. I haven’t seen him in a while, and it was great to hit with him. I thought he played very well on the court,” Djokovic said of Murray.
“He moves well considering it’s clay which is not the best surface for his hips. But considering what he has been through lately, I think it seems like he’s been feeling well on the court. That’s what he’s saying, and that’s what it appears on the court itself.”
Djokovic wasn’t the only top name Murray has had a chance to hit against this week. Prior to their meeting, he trained with Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. His hope is that hitting with the top names of the sport will help him regain momentum on the Tour quicker. The Brit has recently been sidelined from action due to a groin injury.
“I want to play against the highest level players possible because I think that will help me improve my game quicker,” Murray said ahead of his session with Schwartzman. “When you are practicing against the best guys it shows up better the things that you need to improve on.”
The 33-year-old has recently sought guidance from his former coach Mark Petchey for the upcoming weeks. Petchey is a former top 100 player who has also previously worked alongside Maria Sakkari and is currently a TV commentator for the sport. Injury-stricken Murray has dropped down to 123rd in the world but he isn’t giving up on the sport just yet.
“When I had the operation on the hip I knew it was going to be unbelievably challenging, it just feels that there are a couple of things that have happened this year which have been very unfortunate that have been hard to take but I didn’t expect it to be easy.” He said.
Murray has won 46 ATP titles so far in his career.
