"I thought he was actually pretty good. I didn't expect him to be this good yet"
Monday 13 November 2017 01:37, UK
Roger Federer says he was surprised how well Andy Murray played during their charity match last week as the Scot continues his recovery from a hip injury.
Murray faces a race against time to find both fitness and form before the Australian Open in January, having not managed a competitive outing since Wimbledon in July.
Federer, however, reported positively from his exhibition match with Murray in Glasgow when the pair played out three light-hearted sets.
He still has a lot of time before Australia comes around but only he knows at what level he wants to return to competition
"I was actually happy how he was playing," Federer said. "Definitely he can move better, he can serve better. We know all these things.
"But for a start, I think it was actually quite encouraging and actually okay.
"He still has a lot of time before Australia comes around but only he knows at what level he wants to return to competition.
"But I thought he was actually pretty good. I didn't expect him to be this good yet."
Federer was speaking at the ATP Finals in London on Sunday after he beat American Jack Sock 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
The absence of Murray and Novak Djokovic makes Rafael Nadal his stand-out rival at the O2 Arena, although this tournament remains one of the few titles Nadal has yet to win.
The Spaniard has defended his drought by suggesting the surface be switched from hard to his favoured clay, but Federer is not convinced.
"Could it be switched up to clay once in a while? Yeah, maybe. Could we have more [ATP] 1000 tournaments on grass? Yeah, we could have that, too," Federer said.
"I think it's not the time of the year for clay, so there you have it. You can do indoor clay, I guess, but that's a bit silly. But I get his point, it's a fair point."
The season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 in November ends another memorable year which will be covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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