Andy Murray says 'body felt good' as he wins first match on clay for five years

Andy Murray said he was very happy with his fitness after he beat Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Masters.

Murray had initially planned to skip clay season due to concerns of how the harsh surface would affect his hip condition.

However, after reuniting with former coach Ivan Lendl last month, he reconsidered that decision and took a wild card to enter Madrid.

That decision appears to have been a good one, with him producing some superb tennis as he beat former US Open champion Thiem 6-3, 6-4 to win his first singles match on clay for five years.

Thiem is recovering from injury himself and was well short of his best, but that should take little away from Murray's performance.

"I enjoyed it," Murray said. "I prepared really hard before coming here.

"I worked hard and really wanted to go out and put a good performance out there. I feel like I did that.

"When I played a couple of years ago on the clay, I was struggling a little bit with my groin. My body felt really good in the last few weeks and tonight I felt like I moved well and I played a really good match.

"I do feel like I have started to play some better tennis, and I'm definitely moving better and moved very well tonight.

"That's a really important part of my game. It allows me to concentrate on the strategy a little bit more when I'm out there.

"I was just really happy all around with how I competed, how I played, how I moved, how my body felt."

"I have hardly played on it [clay] for the last five years really," Murray said. "I did four weeks training so felt more comfortable than I usually do.

"I played well. I thought Dominic was playing well at times but he has obviously just started playing again as well."

Murray will now face Denis Shapovalov in the second round, with their last meeting coming at Wimbledon last year where the Canadian won in straight sets.

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