• Tennis

Pain-free Murray set to 'challenge' his body

ESPN staff
February 11, 2014
Andy Murray had back surgery in September last year © Getty Images
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Andy Murray has revealed he is not feeling any pain in his back following surgery last year, and is looking to push his body to test fit he really is.

The reigning Wimbledon champion had an operation on his back towards the end of September last year, and returned to action on Boxing Day in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

And Murray, who lost to Roger Federer in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, says he is not feeling any strains of the surgery as he prepares to take part in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam this week after accepting a wildcard to the event.

"I had already had a long break due to my back surgery, so I hadn't played a lot of matches. When you haven't played for a long time, you have to get used to competing. I was enjoying playing tournaments and not being in pain," Murray said.

Murray helped Great Britain reach the last eight of the Davis Cup with a victory over the USA, and explained his decision to play this week in Rotterdam.

"I came back from [a Davis Cup tie in] San Diego happy with the way I was playing," he said. "I quite fancied playing a tournament before going to Acapulco. I like the tournament, it is close to London and [as] I don't have many [Emirates ATP Rankings] points to defend over the next few weeks, it was an opportunity to improve my ranking and to get back on a match court again."

And Murray wants to push his body to the limit, saying: "It is important for me to challenge my body just now, to see how good it is. I obviously played my first five set matches in Australia, then in the Davis Cup. In those events you have a day off between matches, but if I play well this week I will be competing a few days in a row. The next month or two, I will still be learning about my body. But so far it has been good."

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