World number one Andy Murray is hopeful over his elbow injury, targeting a return to competitive action in the next few weeks.

Murray was forced to withdraw from last month's Miami Open after hurting his right elbow and also missed Great Britain's subsequent Davis Cup defeat to France.

On Monday, the Scot was able to participate in a charity match against Roger Federer in Zurich, losing 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to the in-form Australian Open champion.

But he remains unsure about when he will be ready to return to the ATP World Tour, with the Monte-Carlo Masters starting next week.

"Physically I feel OK. It's just my elbow is still a little bit sore, so obviously I want that to go away," Murray said.

"But I was serving better as the match went on. The start was a bit tricky for me, but I did OK and my elbow certainly didn't get worse as I was playing so I will see how I feel tomorrow."

Murray is also unwilling to rush a return, saying: "I hope in the next few weeks, but I have to be patient.

"I haven't done too much practicing and serving so if my elbow keeps improving I hope I can have a strong clay-court season."

Murray is still searching for his maiden French Open title, having suffered a final defeat to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros last year.

Despite his injury setback, the 29-year-old feels he can enjoy a successful clay-court season.

He said: "I think if my elbow gets better there's no reason why I can't have a good clay-court season.

"Rafa [Nadal] always seems to play great tennis on clay and I think Novak hasn't played his best the last few months but I'm sure at some point he's going to start well again. Maybe it'll be in the next few weeks."