Murray right back in the groove
IT took a while to materialise but Andy Murray ultimately showed signs of the player who became world No 1 last year in his comeback match at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. The Scot’s 7-5, 7-5 victory over Gilles Muller was his first proper match for five weeks and he will be looking to make further progress this morning when he plays 15th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain. Having been broken in the first game, thanks to three double faults, Murray needed to save two set points before overhauling world No 28 Muller of Luxembourg. Running off 12 straight points towards the end of the opening set, he eventually showed little sign of the injury which kept him sidelined for a month. But the 29-year-old said afterwards: ‘My elbow’s always a bit sore. That’s nothing to do with this week. ‘I did serve a little bit better as the match went on. I’m sure that side of my game will get better with each match I play. ‘I feel good but what I really need is more matches.’ To that end, he is considering taking an unusual detour to accept an offer to play in the ATP event next week in Budapest, which is financially backed by Russian oil giants Gazprom. ‘I’ve never been to Budapest before,’ said Murray. ‘It’s a new tournament and it’s not as strong (as the concurrent event in Barcelona) in terms of the player field. ‘So there is maybe a better chance of getting more matches there. ‘It depends how I get on this week and how my elbow feels.’ Kyle Edmund, meanwhile, drew copious praise from Rafael Nadal after giving him a real scare before the greatest clay-courter of them all prevailed 6-0, 5-7, 6-3. ‘He’s young and he has all the possibilities to become a top player: good serve, good forehand, not a bad backhand,’ said Nadal of the 22-year-old Englishman. ‘My feeling is that when he is able to put all these ingredients together and play solid, he will have the chance to be in the top positions. His forehand was huge. ‘I believe that probably he didn’t start this year as good as he played last year. But he has potential to be fighting for important things soon. ‘He played well. I am very happy to still be here with a victory.’ Nadal is going for a historic tenth Monte Carlo title this week, an all-time ATP record anywhere. But he was broken three times in the second set by the British No 2 and faced a break point for 3-1 in the decider, which saw Edmund net a backhand. ‘I’m disappointed I lost, but I’m happy with the game I put on court,’ said Edmund. ‘It’s good I’m able to play like that and feel like I can improve. ‘I was pleased to see how I was hurting him on the court. He’s pretty much the best player on clay ever. So I take confidence from it.’