Andy Murray boosted by competitive practice with Novak Djokovic

The Scot took a confidence boost from a practice session on Saturday.

Andy Murray boosted by competitive Wimbledon practice with Novak Djokovic — Andy Murray says he's in good shape ahead of the tournament. PA Media

PA Media

2nd Jul 2023

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Tennis

A practice session with his old foe Novak Djokovic showed Andy Murray how far he has come as he prepares for another tilt at Wimbledon.

Ten years after he beat the Serbian to win his first title at the All England Club, Murray took on Djokovic in a training set on Court 14, with many of the army of people putting the final touches to preparations for the tournament crowding round for a glimpse.

The last time Murray remembers practising with his former junior rival before a grand slam was a miserable session at the Australian Open back in 2019, a day before he tearfully laid bare the extent of his hip problems.

This was a very different occasion, and the Scot said: “I did well in the practice. Where I am today in comparison to where I was then is night and day, just from a mental perspective, my enjoyment of the game, and how I’m still able to compete with those guys.

<em>Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic practise at Wimbledon (John Walton/PA)</em>”/></div><figcaption aria-hidden=true><em>Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic practise at Wimbledon (John Walton/PA)</em> <cite class=hidden></cite></figcaption></figure><p>“I didn’t feel like I could really back then. I’m happy to be in that position still. I really enjoyed it. We used to practise together quite a lot actually. It was nice to be back on the court with him again.”</p><p>Murray is not yet back at the stage where he could be considered one of the likely challengers to Djokovic for the title.</p><p>Despite winning successive events on the second-tier Challenger Tour in Surbiton and Nottingham, he missed out on a seeding for Wimbledon and will go in ranked 39.</p><p>He has not been beyond the third round at a grand slam since 2017 but chose to skip the French Open and prioritise grass-court preparations knowing that, if he is going to make the latter stages of a major event again, this is by far the most likely venue.</p><p>“I feel good,” he said. “I’ve obviously played lots of matches. Physically I’ve been feeling good. I’m ready to go.</p><p>“I want to go out there and perform at a level that I’m happy with. I do feel like I’m in a really, really good position to do that. I have the experience at this tournament. There’s only one player in the draw that has more experience of playing here than me, which is Novak.</p><figure class=wp-block-image><div class=relative><img decoding=async src=https://news.stv.tv/wp-content/themes/stvnews/static/images/fallback.png width=1280 height=720 srcset sizes=

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