Andy Murray enters Rome Open practice court with Novak Djokovic

The three-time Major champion Andy Murray has had to deal with numerous setbacks since 2017, stepping down from the ATP throne and undergoing two hip surgeries.

The Briton claimed an ATP title at the end of 2019, just a couple of weeks before experiencing another injury at the Davis Cup Finals that forced him to stay away from the action until the last August! After a couple of wins following the season's restart, Murray lost three straight matches to finish the year with negative vibes, working hard during the off-season and preparing for 2021.

Andy tested positive for the coronavirus just before the trip to Australia, losing a couple of more weeks in that process and slowly getting back on track in February. After a solid Rotterdam campaign, Murray had to skip Dubai due to his fourth child's birth, spending time with family ahead of the Miami trip. The Briton revealed another setback, withdrawing from Miami due to a groin injury and starting all over in the previous two months.

Murray has decided to travel to Rome this week and train with Novak Djokovic and Diego Schwartzman, awaiting for the wild card in Geneva or Lyon and hoping to compete at Roland Garros.

"When I got back from Miami, I went through a process of scans. They didn't show anything serious, but I was still having pain. I had to do quite a lot of work in the gym to address some imbalances and lack of range of motion. I've been working on that for a few weeks, but the positive thing was that I was able to practice pretty much since I got back. For the last five or six days, there has been a definite improvement.

I've played points the last four days, and there hasn't been residual pain when waking up. On Sunday, I've got a court booked with Diego Schwartzman and then Novak Djokovic in the afternoon. I want to play against the highest level players possible because I think that will help me improve my game quicker. When you are practicing against the best guys, it shows up better the things you need to improve on.

I spoke to Petch a few weeks ago, having chatted to him in December pre-Australian Open. Over the last few years, my team and I have spent a lot of time together, and there have been many difficult moments because of what's happened with the injuries and uncertainty. I felt it would be good to have a fresh voice for some weeks," Andy Murray said.