Murray ready for action

Andy Murray returns to ATP Tour action at the Madrid Masters this week feeling refreshed from his recent break - but the world number four knows he will be afforded little time to find his rhythm again.

Murray has been enjoying some well-earned time off since representing Great Britain in their Davis Cup clash against Austria three weeks ago, and his appearance in the Spanish capital this week will be his first Tour event since reaching the US Open final.

The 21-year-old Scot is well aware he needs to be firing on all cylinders almost straight away in Madrid though, with 37 of the world's top 38 players taking part - the only exception being the injured Mario Ancic.

"I'm feeling good, I had a few weeks off after the Davis Cup so I feel pretty fresh," Murray said.

"It's been good to have a bit of time off; it's been a long year with the Olympics being in between Wimbledon and the US Open.

"It was nice; I played some Davis Cup, got some time off and I'm looking forward to playing again.

"I've not played for a while so I'm just trying to take each match at a time. In these sorts of tournaments you could play a guy in the top 20 in your first match, you've got to be ready from the start."

Murray suffered a first-round defeat in the doubles today when he and brother Jamie lost 6-4 6-3 to French duo Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra - the same pairing they were defeated by in their last doubles outing together at the Beijing Olympics.

Murray junior will now fix his focus on the singles, which will see him meet Italian lucky loser Simone Bolelli - a player he has never faced before - in the second round having received a first-round bye.

Bolelli, the world number 43, created an upset today when he defeated Nicolas Almagro, a player 26 places above him in the rankings, 7-6 (7/4) 6-1 in the first round.

Murray had lost his only previous meeting against Spaniard Almagro at the French Open earlier this year.

That four-set defeat was a minor blip in what has largely been a fantastic season for Murray - winning singles titles in Doha, Marseille and Cincinnati, reaching the US Open final and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and rising into the top four in the rankings.

"The whole summer was good for me, barring the Olympics, where I didn't play particularly well," Murray added on the Madrid Masters website.

"I won my first Masters series, Wimbledon was obviously not a bad few weeks for me. I feel confident, I'm at my highest world ranking at the moment and I'm looking forward to the start of the tournament."

Should Murray progress past Bolelli then the rest of the draw could see him facing Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer in subsequent rounds, barring any upsets.

Murray could only face world number one and home favourite Rafael Nadal if he reaches the final, and the Scot insists he is not thinking about gaining revenge for his defeat against the Spaniard in the third round of last year's Madrid Masters.

"We are in opposite sides of the draw so there is a lot of tennis to be played before we could face each other," he said.

"I'm not sure I'm going to get there so we'll have to wait and see but there was a great atmosphere when I played him last year."

Tournament officials confirmed Murray would begin his campaign against Bolelli tomorrow, during the day session.

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