"Quite confident" with his movement, Andy Murray targets Top-20 level

Andy Murray believes his comeback took another step forward at Beijing and is aiming to compete at a Top-20 level in his next few events.

The former No. 1 reached the quarterfinals at Beijing, falling to No. 5 Dominic Thiem. It's the first time Murray won back-to-back matches at the ATP level since undergoing hip surgery.

"It was great for me. I played three matches in four days, which is quite a lot," he told press at Beijing. "I wasn't expecting to go from here to my highest level or winning tournaments, like, straightaway. Everything has kind of been a pretty gradual progress for me. This week was another step, I think, in the right direction."

The 32-year-old next plays the Shanghai Rolex Masters, his third event in as many weeks, and notes that his level has improved significantly since he first arrived in China.

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"Maybe not quite consistent enough just now to beat maybe the top players. But I think against guys that are 10, 20 in the world, I can compete against them just now," he said. "I think I need a few more weeks of playing matches like this—two, three, four matches in a week to say I'm playing Top 20 tennis or something like that. I think I can keep improving."

The biggest source of that improvement, according to Murray, has been his movement. Though he initially had problems getting around the court in his first couple of singles events, the three-time Grand Slam champion is now more like his old self again.

"The matches I played, just in terms of my movement around the court, I actually felt quite confident," he said. "My movement on the court is not like it was before, but it's enough to be very competitive at this level... I would say I'm quite happy with that. I don't know where exactly I expected to be really, but I think I'm doing quite well."

Murray, who received a wild card in Shanghai, will open against a qualifier. He triumphed at the Masters 1000 tournament in 2010, 2011 and 2016.