Andy Murray expects to see improvements nine to 12 months after surgery

Andy Murray looking up

He didn’t really have to get out of first gear, but Andy Murray was happy to get another match under his belt at the Rafa Nadal Open on Monday.

Playing on the ATP Challenger Tour for the first time since 2005, Murray made light work of 17-year-old Imran Sibille from France as he dropped only one game en route to a 6-0, 6-1 win.

It was only his third singles match since he underwent hip surgery at the start of the year and the former world No 1 knows it will be a few more months before he starts to see results in terms of his fitness.

“I need to get a bit quicker, and get a little bit more match fit before I’m back competing at that level again,” Murray told reporters.

“That’s why I decided to drop down a level and try to get some more matches in.

“It’s still only seven months since my surgery and I was told that nine to 12 months after you will still be seeing improvements, muscles will still be healing and recovering so hoping by the end of this year I will be feeling better.”

Murray will face third seed Norbert Gombos of Slovakia, the world number 115, in the second round on Tuesday.

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