'Expectations are high' says Andy Murray who is targeting success in Madrid, Rome and French Open

Andy Murray had a successful clay court season in 2016 and the world number one is looking to replicate last year's form in the "next few weeks".

The 29-year-old won the Rome Masters and finished runners-up at the Madrid Open and the French Open in 2016, having lost to Novak Djokovic in the latter two finals.

After suffering a defeat at the hands of Vasek Pospisil in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters, Murray was forced to spend five weeks on the sidelines due to an elbow injury. He returned to action at the Monte-Carlo Masters and lost to Albert Ramos Viñolas in the third round.

Murray made it to the semi-final of the Barcelona Open, where he lost to Dominic Thiem. The Scot has set his sights on winning silverware in the ongoing clay court season, including the 2017 French Open.

"Expectations are high. I want to do well the next few weeks. In many ways, it's the most important part of the year. There's a lot of big tournaments that come very quickly, one after the other. I'm motivated and looking forward to it," ATP's official website, quoted Murray as saying.

"Barcelona went really well for me. I got three matches in three days. I had the long, three-hour match with Albert Ramos-Vinolas on the Friday. I actually felt pretty good coming out to play again the next day and played some decent stuff there.

"Practice here the last few days has been very good. I'm happy with how I'm playing. I'm starting to move better and feel like I served well the last few days, which is an important part of my game."

On improving his serve, he said: "I served well last year and my results improved a lot because of that. Obviously haven't served so well in Barcelona and Monte-Carlo. It's not easy at this level to win matches if you're getting broken a lot. Hopefully I serve a bit better this week."

Murray's hope of achieving success in the clay court season will see him face tough competition from Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has been in fine form, winning the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.