Beaten Murray buoyed by clay performances

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The British number one, who missed virtually the entire clay-court season last year after suffering a wrist injury, made it to round three of the Masters Series event before being beaten 6-0 6-4 on Thursday.

"I felt I was understanding how to play a little bit better on it," he told the Evening Standard. "I've done a lot of things well this week, which gives me a bit of confidence for the rest of the clay-court season, but I was disappointed with how I played."

Murray failed to make an impression in the match as his fellow 20-year-old powered through the first set and he was unable to retrieve the situation despite being a break up in the second.

He added: "Normally, my groundstrokes are pretty consistent but I hit about four winners and about 25 or 30 unforced errors, which isn't good enough against a player like Novak."

World number three Djokovic, a friend and rival of Murray from their junior days, believes the Scot must become more aggressive to succeed at the highest level on clay.

Murray is now coached by former French Open finalist Alex Corretja and Djokovic believes the results will eventually come.

He told Sky Sports: "Starting working with Alex before the clay season was a good move, Alex is one of the best players in the last 20 years on clay. He was in the top 10 for a long time.

"You can see Andy is trying to mix it up, trying to change the pace on clay, which is a good thing, but I still feel he needs to be more aggressive."