Murray is positive after the opportunity to gauge level

Andy Murray gave a positive assessment of his week in Rome after losing in the second round of the Italian Open doubles with Liam Broady.

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.

Murray travelled to Rome primarily to practise with some of the world’s top players after recovering from a groin problem suffered ahead of the Miami Open in March.

The Scot told the PA news agency: “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.”

Murray’s partners for practising have included world number one Novak Djokovic, and he was happy to learn more about where his level is ahead of an expected singles return in either Geneva or Lyon next week.

The Scot is also waiting to find out whether he will be given a French Open wild card.

“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.”

He said he had four practice sessions with top20 players.

“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,” he added.

“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.”

● Rafael Nadal saved two match points against Denis Shapovalov as he battled into the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.

He trailed by a set and 3-0 and saved two match points at 5-6 in the deciding set before digging out a 3-6 6-4 7-6 (3) victory.

Novak Djokovic had no such worries against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, making short work of the Spaniard 6-2 6-1 as fans returned to the Foro Italico for the first time this year.

He will next face what should be a much tougher test against Monte-carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated Italian number one Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (3) 6-2.

Andy Murray.