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MONACO. – World number one Andy Murray has recovered from an elbow injury and is keen to reach the final of the Monte Carlo Masters tennis for the first time, the Briton said ahead of his opening match against Gilles Muller in the second round yesterday. Murray, who beat Muller 7-5, 7-5, has been out of action since March but has worked his way back to full fitness and reckons his serve was back to its best.

“I wouldn’t start the tournament unless I felt comfortable (going full tilt), but I’ve only been really serving at my normal pace the last couple of days,” Murray said in an interview on the ATP Tour website.

“I’ve been trying to build it up slowly to time it right for the beginning of the tournament . . . the elbow has been feeling better every day, so I am positive about that.”

Murray took his time to come to grips with the clay surface, winning his first clay title in Munich in 2015, 10 years into his professional career.

He followed that up by winning the Madrid Open later that year, beating Spaniard Rafa Nadal, arguably the best clay court player of his generation.

Since 2015, Murray has been to three finals on clay, losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2016 Madrid and French Open before beating the world number two in the 2016 Italian Open final.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing on clay but I never quite figured out the movement,” Murray said. – Reuters.