Andy Murray jested about the gulf in quality between himself and Novak Djokovic currently as the Brit prepares to face his long-term rival at the 2022 Madrid Open.
Murray progressed to the third round in Madrid after defeating Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 on Tuesday. As a result, the three-time Grand Slam champion will take on world number one Djokovic in the next round - the first meeting between the players since the Doha final in 2017.
Although Murray will be confident of putting in a solid performance against the Serbian, he is struggling for form in 2022. After impressing during a run to the final in Sydney, the British player has only won consecutive matches once this season - at the Madrid Open against Dominic Thiem and Shapovalov.
In contrast, Djokovic remains at the top of his game and the Serbian has only lost three of his nine matches in 2022 so far. However, the 35-year-old missed the first two months of the campaign, including the Australian Open, before making the Dubai Championships quarter-final and Belgrade Open final.
Ultimately, Murray acknowledged the task facing him ahead of his clash with Djokovic in a humourous fashion. In his post-match interview after beating Shapovalov in Madrid, the 35-year-old also alluded to his upcoming opponents' quality, whilst joking about his prior hip surgery from a 20219 injury.
"In theory I should have no chance in the match. He's obviously No. 1 in the world [and] I'm playing with a metal hip, so I shouldn't have a chance in the match. It's a great opportunity for me to see where my game's at and to play against him again. "
"We've had so many great battles over the years in some of the biggest tournaments in the world. We played in the final I think of all four Grand Slams, we played here in the final, and I haven't had that opportunity to play against him for a long time. Didn't know if I ever would get that chance, so I'll enjoy it, I'll have a fantastic attitude in the match, give it my best and see where I'm at."
Heading into the clash, Djokovic holds a 24-11 advantage over Murray in head-to-head meetings. Also in his post-match interview, Murray explained that he's feeling confident and pinpointed to some specific areas of strength he showed against Shapovalov.
"I trained very hard the past four or five weeks and got my game in good shape. My movement has been so much better than where it was at the beginning of the year and it makes a huge difference to my whole game."
"It allows me to make different decisions on the court. My movement won me that match tonight. I defended so many points. He has so much power and I managed to defend lots of points and that won the match for me, so I was really happy with that."