"I know the tennis will come, but it's also not going to come back immediately, so it's just not to expect, straight off the bat, to be playing perfect"
Monday 24 August 2020 13:01, UK
Andy Murray has accepted he must "lower expectations" despite making a solid start to his campaign at the Western & Southern Open in New York.
The 33-year-old played his first competitive tennis in nine months as he beat Frances Tiafoe in three sets at the weekend to set up a last-32 date with Germany's Alexander Zverev on Monday.
Murray, recovering from hip problems, admitted he was far from his best in beating the young American wildcard, but is feeling in much better shape than he has for a long time as the US Open approaches.
"I moved maybe better than I expected to," he said. "The first few matches back when I started playing singles last year I moved way worse than I did here, so that was positive.
"My tennis could have been better. I thought I could have played a bit better. I guess that will come, the more matches I play.
"I'm happy with how I did here. I would have liked to have played a bit better, but physically I was good. That is the most important thing for me, because that hasn't been the case for the last 10 months."
I spoke with my coach the last couple of days and he was saying to me 'you're good enough to win matches even when you're not feeling good' and to remember that sometimes. I think that's one of the things that I need to remember.
Murray admits he has lowered his expectations since battling injury problems and knows he still faces a long road to a full recovery.
"I would say I probably have lower expectations," Murray added. "I know the tennis will come, but it's also not going to come back immediately, so it's just not to expect, straight off the bat, to be playing perfect.
"For example, the first set today, the tiebreak was bad level. It wasn't good tennis, in my opinion. But I got through it and I didn't get too down on myself.
"I didn't expect to play unbelievable. But I spoke with my coach the last couple of days and he was saying to me 'you're good enough to win matches even when you're not feeling good' and to remember that sometimes. I think that's one of the things that I need to remember.
"Obviously if you play the top players, you know you're going to have to play a high level of tennis. But there are certain matches you can get through not playing your best, and I think I did that here."
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