I do feel I could win – Murray would back himself against Nadal, Djokovic or Federer
After making a sensational comeback on the ATP Tour, Andy Murray would be confident facing Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer.
Andy Murray believes he is now back to being capable of taking on the world’s elite players after his remarkable comeback from injury in 2019.
Murray looked set to retire due to injury earlier in the year, but after undergoing successful hip surgery, crowned his return by winning the European Open in Antwerp to claim his 46th ATP Tour title.
After taking the best part of a month off, Murray will now head to the Davis Cup finals as part of Great Britain’s five-man team.
The 32-year-old intends step things up further in 2020 and the three-time major winner says he would be confident of pushing Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer all the way should he come up against any of the big three.
“I know if I played against the top players tomorrow there would be a very small chance of me winning that match,” Murray told BBC Sport.
“But I do feel I could win. That’s one of the performance goals I want – when I go out on court against all of the players I want to feel like I have a chance of winning.
“Seven or eight weeks ago I wouldn’t have felt that was the case.
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) October 20, 2019
“If I continued along that path then I wouldn’t continue playing. It has been an up and down few years but I feel like I’m coming through the other side of it and I’m excited to see what I can do over the next couple of years.
“It’s difficult to say exactly where I am. I’m not where I was when I was 25 but I don’t expect to be and I don’t need to be [in order] to be competitive at the highest level and that’s why I’m excited.
“I’m not going to set a target of top 10 or trying to make the semis of a Grand Slam because I’ve done all of that before and I don’t need that.
“I’m happy just being pain free, healthy and love what I’m doing.”
Murray defeated Stan Wawrinka to clinch the European Open title, while the Scot overcame world number eight Matteo Berrettini on his way to the China Open quarter-finals in Beijing, where he was eventually defeated by Dominic Thiem.
