• Monte Carlo Masters

Murray happy to hit the ground running in Monte Carlo

Andy Murray made light work of Viktor Troicki © Getty Images

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Andy Murray has credited a strong showing on the clay last season for his fast start at the Monte Carlo Masters.

In his first match on the surface since June, Murray needed little over an hour to race past Viktor Troicki in a one-sided 6-0 6-3 victory.

With either Julien Benneteau or Jurgen Melzer up next in the third round, the world No. 4 was surprised with how quickly he adapted to playing on the red dirt.

"It was a good start," Murray told Sky Sports. "Normally it has taken me a few matches to get used to the clay and feel comfortable on it, but today I thought I moved pretty well from the beginning of the match and that is important for me on this surface.

"It normally takes me a while to feel like I can slide into the balls, normally I am slipping and sliding around too much, but today I felt comfortable. I used a lot of variety in my game, which is important."

Murray enjoyed his best season on the clay last year, reaching the semi finals at the Masters events in Monte Carlo and Madrid as well as the last four at Roland Garros. In Monte Carlo he fell to top seed and six-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in three sets, and took a set off a seemingly invincible Novak Djokovic in Rome.

And despite not having much time to prepare on the clay, Murray believes results last year gave him huge confidence coming into the 2012 campaign.

"I hadn't had that much time this year to work on things - the next five or six weeks I will have time to do that before the French Open," he said.

"In terms of last year, it was just good for my confidence. I played a lot of close matches with the top guys on clay. In the past when I played them I used to struggle so I gained confidence even though I lost. Confidence is a big things and I came in today feeling a lot more confident than in the last few years."

In Ivan Lendl, Murray has a coach who won three French Open titles. While the clay is not his favoured surface, the Scot believes he has figured out the key components to success after putting in the hours on the practice court.

"I have played a lot of sets, a lot of points," he said. "It is a different type of game on the clay, you have to be patient. You hit a great shot and it comes back, which it wouldn't very often on other surfaces.

"You have to hit three or four great shots to win points, you have to understand when to come into the net. It is difficult to pass on the run on the clay but you need to pick the right time to come forward. There are things that will help me shorten points against the best players in the world."

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